Fulham 2-1 Norwich City: FLW report as hosts book their place in Carabao Cup fourth round | OneFootball

Fulham booked their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup courtesy of a 2-1 win over Championship side Norwich City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night.

The hosts looked to have the game wrapped up after 72 minutes when Alex Iwobi doubled their lead with their first goal for the club following Carlos Vinicius' 12th-minute opener but substitute Borja Sainz responded three minutes later to ensure it was a nervy finish in West London.

Ultimately, it was the Premier League side that progressed but given their injury issues and promotion aspirations, David Wagner is unlikely to be too disappointed at the cup exit and will take heart from his side's defiant display on a night when they were forced to do lots of defending.

Fulham 2-1 Norwich City

Wagner may have made nine changes from the side that were heavily beaten by Plymouth Argyle on the weekend but the German coach will still have wanted to see a response from his players. Unfortunately, they were on the back foot from the off and behind inside 12 minutes.

Building Fulham pressure saw both Iwobi and Joao Palhinha head over the top before Vinicius bundled in the opener. Willian's deep free-kick found Iwobi in acres of space and the summer signing's first-time cross evaded George Long and the Norwich defence, allowing the striker to bag his second in three games in 2023/24.

The West Londoners' dominance continued after the goal but a rare foray forward gave Norwich a golden chance to level, which Tony Springett spurned. Przemyslaw Placheta showed his pace to burn Timothy Castagne in transition and pull the ball back to the arriving Springett, who pushed his effort wide of Marek Rodak and the left-hand post from 10 yards out.

A respite from ongoing Fulham forward pressure, Placheta's pace was continuing to prove an issue and, having switched wings, the Pole burst down the right to create a chance for Ui-Jo Hwang as we neared the half hour but the on-loan Nottingham Forest striker couldn't capitalise and allowed the hosts a chance to clear. The striker, who could well be a key player in the coming weeks given the injury issues up top, had seen an effort smothered minutes before by Rodak.

Wagner's side may have wrestled back a little control and were just one down at the half but the attacking quality of the Premier League side meant that chances were never far away. The clearest illustration of that fact came six minutes before the break when Vinicius very nearly added his second - putting Fode Ballo-Toure's low cross wide of the post from close range after a slick move.

Whatever the German coach said to his side at halftime seemed to work wonders as the visitors were in the ascendancy after the restart but they were limited to long-range efforts - with Sam McCallum whipping a low strike wide and then Kellen Fisher crashing a speculative effort against the post.

Normal service soon resumed, however, and were it not for a block from debutant centre-back Jaden Warner, Vinicius would have doubled Fulham's lead in the 57th minute. Three minutes later it was Adam Forshaw's turn to save his side as he cleared Wilson's volley direct from a corner off the line.

The Canaries were just about able to hold back wave after wave of Fulham attacks and even looked dangerous themselves on the break - with a sliding Springett putting McCallum's probing cross just wide in the 68th minute.

Eventually, Fulham's pressure told as the visitors gave up possession in a dangerous area and Iwobi slammed an edge-of-the-box effort past a full-stretch George Long.

2-0 up after 72 minutes, the third round tie looked wrapped up but the Cottagers' celebrations were short-lived as three minutes later Sainz pulled one back. The Spaniard held off a defender and finished coolly after being fed by fellow substitute Jonathan Rowe.

With fellow first-teamers Adam Idah, Gabriel Sara and Kenny McLean all also introduced, Wagner's side ensured it was a nervy finish for the hosts - though they needed Long's diving save to keep their hopes alive with five minutes left of the 90.

Referee Craig Pawson had a decision to make when Rowe hit the turf after bursting into the Fulham box in the dying moments but he rightfully waved away calls for a penalty. You always felt Norwich would get one more chance in the five minutes of stoppage time and though it fell to in-form Gabriel Sara, he scuffed his shot and Rodak eventually gathered.

Defeat and a cup exit for the Canaries but there were certainly positives for Wagner to take - not least their threat on the break and the performances of young defenders Fisher and Warner. The focus now shifts to Birmingham City.

Marek Rodak - 6

Timothy Castagne - 5

Issa Diop - 6

Calvin Bassey - 6 (Tim Ream (83) - 6)

Fode Ballo-Toure - 7 (Antonee Robinson (69) - 6)

Joao Palhinha - 6

Tom Cairney - 7

Harry Wilson - 6

Alex Iwobi - 7

Willian - 8 (Bobby De Cordova-Reid (79) - 5)

Carlos Vinicius - 7 (Rodrigo Muniz (79) - 6)

Unused subs: Bernd Leno, Harrison Reed Andreas Pereira, Tyrese Francois, Luke Harris

Norwich City player ratings

George Long - 6

Kellen Fisher - 7

Jaden Warner - 7

Ben Gibson - 6

Sam McCallum - 5

Adam Forshaw - 6 (Gabriel Sara (70) - 5)

Liam Gibbs - 6

Przemyslaw Placheta - 8 (Adam Idah (63) - 7)

Tony Springett - 5 (Jonathan Rowe (70) - 7)

Onel Hernandez - 5 (Borja Sainz (63) - 7)

Ui-Jo Hwang - 6 (Kenny McLean (77) - 6)

Unused subs: Vincente Reyes, Jack Stacey, Borja Sainz, Adam Idah, Christian Fassnacht, Gabriel Sara, Kenny McLean, Shane Duffy, Jonathan Rowe

The attendance at Craven Cottage for Fulham v Norwich City in the third round of the Carabao Cup was 12,831.

That included 2,400 away fans.

Speaking to FLW after the game, Silva made it clear that it was job done for his side as they deservedly booked their place in the fourth round.

"We are going to keep playing in the competition and that was our aim before," he said.

"Playing at home is always a very good advantage for us in these type of ties and overall, we were the team that deserved to win more."

He added: "We had some good moments. We missed many, many chances to kill the game and to score more goals. Until this moment, you take all the hope and belief from these type of teams and all the enthusiasm they play with in these type of competitions. It is always tough and the game is always open. They believe always.

"It was a good game for us. We made seven changes but we took the competition really seriously and we deserve to be there in the next round."

David Wagner post-match reaction

While he was disappointed to see his side out of the Carabao Cup, Wagner clearly saw the positives from his side's display - particularly after the weekend's heavy defeat.

He told FLW: "Obviously you are never happy when you concede a defeat but how the players responded after Saturday's performance and result, which was more than bad, was just great.

"It was good to see that if we play from our structure if we play to our principles, we are a side who can perform on a decent level who can be uncomfortable for a Premier League side.

"It was nice to see that is still the case, even if we make a lot of changes, that the players know how we like to attack and defend.

"This was good to see, it gives everybody a major boost for what is now in front of us. We can't change the past, what we have done wrong in the last Championship game, it is done, but we can change the future and today it was the first step.

"Obviously the future for us is Birmingham on Saturday, where we'd like to make sure that we continue showing what we've shown today and get back to a winning track."