No Mitro, no party as Rooney halts Fulham
FULHAM sorely missed the clinical finishing touch of their talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic as they were frustrated by basement club Derby. the Serbian forward, the leading scorer in the Championship with 21 goals, was absent with what Fulham boss Marco Silva vaguely described as ‘issues’ after Saturday’s win over Barnsley. it was later clarified that this meant illness, with tom Cairney and Marek Rodak also missing. Without the staggeringly in-form Mitrovic, Fulham couldn’t make their pressure pay as Wayne Rooney’s Derby took their points tally back into positive territory after 21 were deducted. it wasn’t for the want of trying from Fulham, with Jean Michael Seri cracking a 25-yard shot against the bar in the first half. the lively Fabio Carvalho was allowed space to spin inside the Derby box and shoot against the base of the post after the break, and then Derby keeper Kelle Roos saved brilliantly to deny Carvalho with 10 minutes left before Curtis Davies cleared Rodrigo Muniz’s follow-up off the line. Muniz later sent an acrobatic effort over the top. the travelling fans sang ‘we’ll fight to the end’ and there’s no way Derby would be in the drop zone without their eFL penalties. Having beaten Fulham’s promotion rivals Bournemouth on Sunday, Rooney’s side might have pinched this one, but Paulo Gazzaniga was alert to deny tom Lawrence when he twice gained space in the Fulham box.