Now Fulham profit from hidden gem Muniz
THERE is a certain irony that Fulham spent January searching the transfer market for a goalscorer, only to find they had one the whole time.
Rodrigo Muniz began his goalscoring run at Burnley two days after the transfer window closed and continued it emphatically here to help Fulham to an impressive victory.
The industrious 22-year-old created Harry Wilson’s opener and his instinctive bullet header grabbed the second as he made it five goals in five. He had not scored at all before February.
Substitute Adama Traore raced clear late on to put added gloss on the result, but the story was all about Muniz and Fulham boss Marco Silva promised there was more to come from him.
‘He was great. He’s getting better and better,’ Silva said. ‘He’s strong and so difficult to deal with.
‘His link-up play against a press like Brighton’s was so important. He’s a happy boy and there’s much more to come.’
Muniz had the beating in the air of Brighton’s Adam Webster before he teed up Wilson’s superb, curled opener.
The pair then swapped roles for the second, an inch-perfect cross capping a team move much to Silva’s delight, who called it ‘almost a perfect team goal’.
Perhaps Roberto De Zerbi could be forgiven for having one eye on Thursday’s trip to Roma, Brighton’s first ever European knockout tie.
The Brighton manager made nine changes here, leaving the Premier League’s top assistmaker, Pascal Gross, on the bench. His absence was evident in a flat performance.
De Zerbi conceded his squad was lacking the energy needed to compete with Fulham.
‘Thursday is historic for us, we are not a big, big club,’ he said. ‘We didn’t play with the energy you need in the Premier League. You cannot win with 60 per cent.’