TERRIERS TRAUMATISED
ALEKSANDAR MITROVIC had gone six worrying games without a goal.
But not even an extraordinary row with fellow forward Aboubakar Kamara was going to put him off grabbing a crucial injury-time winner against Huddersfield at Craven Cottage.
The big, bruising Serbian centre forward is a talisman for Claudio Ranieri’s struggling side – and his barren run coincided with the Cottagers going six games without a win.
Mitrovic’s frustration has been all too clear – but Saturday’s cool finish as he shot low through Terriers keeper Jonas Lossl’s legs showed his instincts were as sharp as ever.
The £22million former Newcastle striker now has eight goals this season, and the big Serb is pivotal to Fulham’s hopes of staying up.
Mitrovic had admitted he felt like crying after Wolves denied Fulham a win on Boxing Day. And it looked like he was close to tears again after scoring.
He said: “There was a lot of emotion. I’d not scored for a few games so it was a big release.
“I’m a striker, goals are my thing. I was really desperate because in the last games I was unlucky. You could feel a big release from the stadium.” Especially because, nine minutes earlier, he was embroiled in an amazing argument with Kamara, who won a penalty after his flick was handled by Erik Durm, grabbed the ball and insisted on taking the spot-kick, even though Mitrovic is the normal taker.
The Serb, after an argument, stood aside before going back to give his team-mate a ‘good luck’ kiss on the cheek. But hapless Kamara saw his kick saved.
Fuming Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri said: “I told Kamara to leave the ball to Aleksandar Mitrovic, he is the man who shoots the penalties.
“He did not respect me, the club, the team and crowd. I spoke with him. I wanted to kill him, that is normal when one man takes a ball, only because he scored the last penalty (against Manchester United). It should be Mitrovic, that is it.”
Luckily for Kamara – booed by some of his own fans – SHATTERED Huddersfield manager David Wagner admits he must clear his player’s heads after a disastrous seventh straight defeat left them marooned at the bottom of the table, five points from safety.
The Terriers were beaten by Aleksandar Mitrovic’s injury-time strike at Craven Cottage, and Wagner (right) confessed, as they prepare to face fellow strugglers Burnley in a Mitrovic’s goal got him off the hook. Ranieri added: “For a goalscorer it is always important to score.
“He was not worried by this spell. He is an intelligent player. He knows there are moments where you score every match, some where you have to wait.
“But I have never seen him nervous. He is always calm.”
Mitrovic said of his row with Kamara: “He’s a striker, he’s hungry for goals – and he scored his last penalty. He’s young. It’s fine between us now.”
In a poor game, Huddersfield had the better of the first half, as Philip Billing and Steve Mounie went close.
But Ranieri changed things around, and Joe Bryan went close. Lossl pulled off a fine save from Mitrovic, and then saved Kamara’s volley. Then Lossl stopped Kamara’s penalty. But in injury time, Ryan Sessegnon cleverly released Mitrovic and his shot found the net. critical game on Wednesday: “We have to be ready and we have to clear our heads. This is the only way you can deal with it.
“You have to accept and respect the situation. You can’t change the past, you can only change the future.”
Town have only scored 12 goals all season, and Wagner added: “We have an issue. It’s too close to the game, I can’t think about the transfer market.”