Warnock: If only we’d had Sala
Babel’s stunner has Cardiff thinking what might have been with doomed striker
I F RELEGATION does c o me Cardiff’s way they will join fellow Championship-bound side Fulham in wondering what might have been when they look back on this season.
For Fulham, this was their third win and clean sheet on the bounce since their demotion was confirmed, a morale-boosting run that has come all too late to save them.
And it was sealed with a rare moment of Premier League quality from Fulham’s Ryan Babel that left Cardiff boss Neil Warnock thinking poignantly back to t he t ragic January plane crash that claimed the life of Emiliano Sala days after he had signed for the Welsh side.
Dutch winger Babel’s late winner, that edged Cardiff closer to the drop, was totally out of keeping with what had gone before. A brilliantly taken first- time shot from 25 yards whipped into the top corner earned managerial apprentice Scott Parker, taking charge of just his eighth game, another notable scalp, this time managerial master Warnock, who was overseeing his 1,455th.
The Cardiff manager said: ‘It is probably only Babel on the pitch who could have scored it. Maybe Victor Camarasa on a good day. It was a great finish.
‘That’s the Premier League for you. You get what you pay for. It just brings it home to me how disappointing [it was] with the Emiliano tragedy. I felt he could score 10 goals between Christmas and the end of the season. So it is blow after blow really the things we have had to put up with since Christmas.’
The Sala tragedy puts everything else in perspective. But in football terms Babel’s 79thminute strike was another body blow for Cardiff and Warnock.
His face like thunder seconds after the Dutchman’s effort told its own story. His mood would not have been helped by the ‘You’re going down with the Fulham’ chants from the home fans.
‘If we go down we’re back here at the Cottage next season,’ Warnock said. ‘Probably first game of next season. I can’t get away from it... t hose people who love me here.’
Fulham’s regret is that their rally has come too late. Caretaker Parker, handed the reins in February, was already thinking ‘what if’ after the wins over Everton and Bournemouth. A third would only have added to that. Babel’s goal could prove a brilliant parting gift as he has already hinted he could leave when his short-term deal runs out at the end of the season following relegation. Parker said: ‘It was a moment of brilliance and sheer class from Ryan. With some of the chances we missed I thought maybe today was not going to be our day.’ Babel’s goal certainly didn’t have much competition when it came to moments of quality, which perhaps suggested why there is a very real chance this will be a second-tier rivalry next season. The biggest talking point in the first half was a sickening incident involving Fulham defender Denis Odoi. Maxi me Le March and accidentally caught Odoi in the face as he attempted to clear the ball while the latter was in the process of stooping to head it back to his keeper Sergio Rico. After a brief though still hugely concerning period while Odoi was out cold on the ground the right-back came round but needed almost 10 minutes of treatment before he was carried off on a stretcher in a neck brace and with an oxygen mask.
Parker said: ‘He is on the mend and all good. He stayed and watched the second half.’
Top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic blew a great chance to fire Fulham ahead early in the second half, blazing over Tom Cairney’s cross.
Cairney, back in the side after becoming a father for the first time last weekend, then almost deceived former Fulham goalkeeper Neil Etheridge with a cross that got caught in the Storm Hannah winds that whipped into Craven Cottage off the Thames.
Fulham’s Tim Ream denied the poised Leandro Bacuna a tap- in with crucial touch that redirected Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s cross.
Warnock chucked on strikers Danny Ward and Rhys Healey and finally saw his side have their first shot on target from Mendez-Laing, in the 73rd minute, albeit one straight at Sergio Rico.
Then the visitors were stunned by Babel’s bolt out of the blue.