Fulham vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
Craven CottageAttendance16,791.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Fulham and Stoke City at Craven Cottage as goals from Harry Wilson, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Aleksandar Mitrovic saw Marco Silva's side win comfortably.
Saturday 28 August 2021 18:48, UK
Aleksandar Mitrovic struck his fourth goal of the season to cap Fulham's convincing 3-0 win over Stoke at Craven Cottage and extend the Championship leaders' unbeaten start.
Mitrovic - who this week signed a new five-year contract - struck his side's third goal after Harry Wilson and Bobby Decordova-Reid had put Marco Silva's side in control.
But the striker missed out on a second goal when his added-time penalty was saved by goalkeeper Josef Bursik.
The two teams came into this game with identical records of three wins and a draw from their opening four league games.
But it was Fulham who underlined their early promotion credentials with a comprehensive victory that brought Stoke's best start to a campaign in 23 years to an abrupt halt.
The outcome was never in doubt from the moment Wilson put the home side ahead in the fifth minute.
The midfielder was back in the Fulham starting line-up after serving a three-match suspension following his dismissal during the 5-1 win at Huddersfield.
And he wasted no time making his presence felt when he found Decordova-Reid on the left and continued his forward run to collect Mitrovic's lay-off and place a left-footed shot beyond keeper Bursik.
Stoke had an opportunity to work their way back into the game when Harry Souttar headed over from a Mario Vrancic corner.
But it was Fulham who dominated the opening half and Marco Silva's side would have extended their lead but for Bursik.
The keeper produced his best effort to deny Fulham centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo after the centre-back rose to meet Jean Michael Seri's free-kick immediately before the interval.
Fulham were also guilty of failing to make more of the opportunities that came their way.
In particular, centre-back Tim Ream was left holding his head in his hands after diverting the ball over the bar with his knee from close range after Mitrovic headed Wilson's free-kick across goal.
Stoke needed to make a positive start to the second period if they were to work their way back into the game.
But they found themselves further behind just seven minutes after the restart when Decordova-Reid added Fulham's second.
The winger again combined with Mitrovic, playing the striker in on goal and then following up when Bursik could only parry the Serb's shot.
The second goal finally came seven minutes into the second half when Decordova-Reid followed up to finish after Mitrovic's shot was saved.
And Mitrovic added the third when he turned home from close range after Wilson connected with Decordova-Reid's cross.
He was unable to double his tally though when he placed his 93rd-minute spot-kick too close to Bursik after the keeper had brought down Neeskens Kebano.
Fulham's Marco Silva: "It was a very good performance from the first minute until the last. We were the dominant team and controlled the game. The only thing was we should have scored more goals. 1-0 was not enough from the first half with the chances we created. We should be more clinical. We did a really good job. But it's just five games and nothing more.
"It's a process. We are building something and creating something inside the football club. The players have to buy the idea of the manager and they are doing that. They are working hard, they are winning games. But it's so early to talk about it. It's not the moment to look to the future and say what we can do."
Stoke's Michael O'Neill: "It was disappointing. We knew it would be as tough as you can get in this league. We were disappointed with the way we started. We didn't get to the right people at the right time. And then we had a good period in the game and should have done better. But the second goal was poor and then we were chasing the game. But overall the speed of their play was better than ours and the level of their players is better than ours.
"There is a lot of quality in their side at this level, especially the front three. Mitrovic is obviously excellent and it was a big challenge for a young back three. We look at it as we are going into the international break with 10 points and we haven't had a an easy start. Had you offered us 10 points from the first five games we would have taken that."
