OH CLAUDIO!
How does it feel to lose 2-1 when the opposition don’t have a single shot on target?
CLAUDIO Ranieri issued instructions that no-one seemed to hear as the rain hammered in from the Pennines and plastered his face. It felt like a signature afternoon. A very real sense is emerging that Fulham, with Huddersfield, are now fighting a cause which is beyond them.
It says everything for the state Ranieri’s side are in that they managed to concede twice without their opponents landing a single shot on target in the game: the first time that has happened in the Premier League in the 15 years since such records have been kept.
The two own-goals in three minutes which swung it lent an air of black comedy to the plight, though few were laughing. It was a bleak afternoon, written through with mistakes from both sides. Fulham’s just happened to have graver consequences. Their defence is the weakest in the division and the own goals revealed why: desperate, uncoordinated attempts to shut the door on opponents offered time and space to shoot.
Joe Bryan was the first unfortunate — still recovering from a scruffy attempt to thwart James Tarkowski which Sean Dyche said should have been a penalty, when he stuck out a leg and diverted in Jeff Hendrick’s unchallenged shot from the right. Then, more of the same from Denis Odoi. The enterprising Hendrick and Ashley Barnes had exchanged passes down the left when Barnes sent in the shot which the Belgian defender conspired to convert with a glancing header.
It was ‘unbelievable’, according to Ranieiri, who has won two out of ten since he was brought in to rescue Fulham. Yet luck did not really come into it. Random catastrophes occur when opponents are given such free rein to overrun a midfield as Burnley were in the first
half. The Ivorian Jean Michael Seri fought his corner for Fulham in his combative way, though there was little evidence in Ranieri’s ranks that the team had a containment strategy in them.
Burnley remained creditably unflustered in the aftermath of Andre Schurrle’s opening strike for the visitors. ‘We stayed calm and grew into the game,’ reflected Dyche. They also encountered a Fulham rearguard so depleted of
confidence that the mere process of playing out from it was fraught with danger in the 18 minutes they held the lead. Maxime le Marchand and Tim Ream were both caught in possession, though Burnley striker Chris Wood could not capitalise. Fulham did not seem to believe that a first victory on opposition soil since last April was within them.
In the torrid past five months, Fulham have wrung every ounce out of Ryan Sessegnon, their crown
jewel, who has played at left-back, left-wing, right-wing and striker. It’s been a lot to ask of an 18-yearold in his first year in the top flight. He struggled to make an impression on the left of a three-man front line and did not reappear after the break. ‘He wasn’t tired,’ Ranieri said. ‘I changed to find the solution with one striker and a winger. He is a good boy but the battle [needs] experience.’
Ranieri did manage to inject some
life into his side, whose second-half showing was far better than the first. They shipped the ball faster and used the full space of the pitch. The Argentine Luciano Vietto appeared in Sessegnon’s place and posed a threat.
A Viet to half-volley which Tarkowski cleared from the line was a hugely significant moment. ‘This episode changed the music,’ lamented Ranieri. ‘It was a fantastic block which is another step
towards what we are good at,’ said Dyche of Tarkowski’s intervention.
Calum Chambers had also sent a header against the crossbar, though it was all to no avail. Burnley, who have been imbued with more of their old do-or-die mentality in the course of three straight Premier League wins, managed the game out. They applied themselves to the small details. ‘All the bits which at the start of the season we weren’t getting right,’ as Dyche put it.
Their bright spot was 19-year-old left winger Dwight McNeil, who provided more evidence of his physical strength and sweet left foot before the on-looking England under-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd. ‘He is learning, improving, a very good young player,’ said Dyche.
The Burnley contingent taunted the visitors with a song about relegation as the minutes ticked down. ‘What we can do?’ reflected Ranieri, manager of the only side in both the Premier League and Football League yet to win away this season. ‘We never give up, we continue to believe that at the end we will be safe.’ BURNLEY (4-4-2): Heaton 6; Bardsley 6, Tarkowski 7.5, Mee 6, Taylor 6; Hendrick 6.5, Westwood 6, Cork 6, McNeil 7; Wood 6 (Vokes 85min), Barnes 6. Booked: Tarkowski. Subs (not used): Hart, Lowton, Gibson, Defour, Vydra, Long. FULHAM (3-4-3): Rico 6; Odoi 6, Le Marchand 5.5, Ream 5.5; Christie 5, Chambers 6, Seri 5.5, Bryan 6 (Cairney 61, 5.5); R Sessegnon 6 (Vietto 46, 7), Mitrovic 5.5, Schurrle 6.5 (Kebano 74, 6). Booked: Christie, Chambers. Subs (not used): Bettinelli, Ayite, S Sessegnon, Cisse. Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire) 6.