Fulham frontmen showed ‘courage’ to see off Foxes: Parker
SCOTT Parker praised the bravery of his Fulham strikers after they fired the Cottagers to victory at Leicester.
Ivan Cavaleiro struck from the spot after Ademola Lookman’s opener to give the visitors a 2-1 win.
Harvey Barnes’ late goal ensured a nervy finish but Fulham held on to climb out of the Premier League’s drop zone.
Both Cavaleiro and Lookman have been criticised this season for missing penalties — Fulham having squandered three this season — but boss Parker believes they stood up when it mattered.
He said: “Ade came under a lot of stick when he did the penalty (a chip against West Ham) and he needed to take his medicine.
“Cav slipped last week and I’m not on Twitter or Instagram but I can only imagine what was being said, the jokes at his expense and Cav would have seen that.
“I said to him: ‘Are you ready to take one if we get it?’ He looked at me dead in the eye and said: ‘I’m ready’.
“The courage to step up there are the things we need. Ade earned the right to score his goal and Cav put himself up to be scrutinised.
“There’s no denying there’s relief. We’re in a world where it’s win or lose for all of us and that’s the big picture. I’ve spoken to them about not letting defeats cripple us.”
Fulham took the lead 11 minutes later when Andre-frank Anguissa’s strong run ended with the midfielder slipping Lookman through and he took a touch before beating Kasper Schmeichel.
The Cottagers grabbed a second eight minutes later after VAR intervened to help award them a penalty.
Play continued after Bobby Decordova-reid went down under a challenge from Christian Fuchs before it was checked and referee Simon Hooper went to his screen.
He pointed to the spot and, after penalties woes this season, Cavaleiro — who ballooned over against Everton last week — fired in.
Leicester had little response until the 86th minute when Barnes scored his fifth of the season but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback.
Boss Brendan Rodgers said: “We’re disappointed, mistakes were made in the first half and it was an uphill climb. We had a lot more of the ball but lacked creativity.”
LEICESTER: Schmeichel, Fofana, Evans, Fuchs, Justin, Tielemans, Mendy (Iheanacho, 70 mins), Thomas (Under, 46 mins), Praet (Barnes, 46 mins), Maddison, Vardy. Unused subs: Morgan, Albrighton, Ward, Choudhury.
FULHAM: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Reed, Zambo, Reid, Loftus-cheek (Lemina, 77 mins), Lookman (Bryan, 90 mins), Ivan Cavaleiro (Mitrovic, 87 mins). Unused subs: Cairney, Rodak, Ream, Kamara.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Man of the match: Ademola Lookman
Match rating: 8/10