Wait for a home win goes on but this was a good point for City

WITH Fulham being the opposition in our 125th year anniversary match and the fact, that match back in March 2020, was the last time we were able to watch live football in a stadium for many months due to the pandemic, it’s a fixture that evokes strong emotions and was one I was looking forward to. Fulham are a team full of Premier League quality players and have two of our own in their squad in Bobby DecordovaReid and Joe Bryan (plus former loanee Alfie Mawson) which added to it.

Fulham showed their class from the start with Harry Wilson, Antonee Robinson and Aleksandar Mitrovic particularly impressive. Former fans favourite Decordova-Reid played on the left-hand side for Marco Silva’s side. I was disappointed to hear some of the crowd booing his every touch. Bobby always gave 100 per cent for City and left to further his career and play in the Premier League and who can blame him for that? The fact it was for Severnside rivals Cardiff City seems to have irked some and, while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it’s not something I like to see against former players and especially local lads. Perhaps it was a little tonguein-cheek and it was good to see him applauded from the pitch when he was substituted late on.

City played in a 4-4-2 but there was real fluidity in the positions that Weimann, Wells and Martin picked up. Fulham were moving the ball quicker than City and we were perhaps a little too deliberate at times. Just past 15 minutes, George Tanner put in a crunching tackle that seemed to ignite the home fans. It was an impressive home debut for Tanner and that tackle helped shift the momentum in the first half.

It was 0-0 at the break and it had been a decent watch. Fulham, as expected, had the lion’s share of the ball, but City defended well, nullified the threat, and created several decent openings.

Fulham got on top in the second half and, after Mitrovic scored, Kebano Neeskens and Wilson both went close to extending their lead.

However, Kasey Palmer got the all-important equaliser. You can’t hide from the fact that our home record is poor but not many fans will have left Ashton Gate talking about another 90-plus minutes without three points on our home turf. This was a point gained against a side who will be challenging for promotion.