Thursday Fulham Stuff - 02/11/23...

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Rodrigo Muniz gives Marco Silva a selection headache with Fulham cup display
Fulham boss Marco Silva challenged Rodrigo Muniz to make the forward position his own after he scored in a 3-1 win at Ipswich to send them through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2004.

The Premier League opposition proved too strong for the Championship high-flyers with Harry Wilson, Muniz and Tom Cairney on target at Portman Road before substitute Elkan Baggott pulled one back late on.

It was the performance of Brazil striker Muniz which caught the eye after his movement helped create Wilson's ninth-minute opener from Bobby Decordova-Reid's pass before the 22-year-old fired home in the 50th minute from Andreas Pereira's cross.

Muniz endured a difficult 2022-23 campaign on loan at Middlesbrough but after scoring his first Fulham goal since January of last year, Silva talked up his chances of starting Saturday's clash with Manchester United.

"He is always a candidate and he had a very good pre-season," Silva said.

"Unfortunately in the moment he was showing his quality, showing how he was growing, even if last season was tough for him, he had a muscle injury and it stop a little bit his development in the pre-season.

"He came back and had a very good game against Tottenham in the first Carabao Cup match we have and he is taking his chances. So, he is always a candidate like the others, like Raul (Jimenez) and Carlos Vinicius.

"They are fighting for the position, we don't have a number one, two or three. It is for me to decide for each game regarding the strategy and what I want from the game. It is up to them to show the quality they have and to show they are able to play.

"Rodrigo did really well. Let's see what is going to be my decision for the next match."

Fulham's passage into the last-eight was clinched when Cairney's low effort went through Christian Walton in the 77th-minute.

While Silva was frustrated with Baggott's headed consolation, he praised the application of his side.

He added: "Yes very good performance. Credit to the players, congratulations to them.

"It is true we did eight changes in our XI and even we probably needed more because we are going to play an early kick-off on Saturday, but in some positions it was impossible to do it.

"If I had the chance, I would do even more (changes), but the main thing for me is we kept our structure, we kept the same way. All the players know the way we want to play and we were really serious in the way we approach the game."

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was able to take plenty of positives from only their second defeat of the campaign.

"It was a tough game, no doubt about that, but I think a game and a night we will be much stronger for," he said.

"It was always going to be a massive challenge irrespective of how the game went or which team we picked.

"To concede an early goal against a really good Fulham team it was always going to be a really tough game, but I'm pleased with how we stuck at it.

"I am pleased we kept trying until the last minute, we tried to stick to our football and there is big positives to take."



https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/rodrigo-muniz-gives-marco-silva-231813753.html

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Casemiro injury: Manchester United midfielder suffers setback in Newcastle loss
Brazilian midfielder to miss Fulham trip after an unhappy return to action in the Carabao Cup

Manchester United look set to be without Casemiro again after the midfielder picked up another injury against Newcastle.

With regular skipper Bruno Fernandes named on the bench, the Brazilian returned to captain Erik ten Hag's side in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, having been sidelined of late with suspension followed by an ankle problem suffered on international duty last month.

However, he struggled in another dismal 3-0 home defeat that meekly ended United's defence of their first major trophy for six years and piled more pressure on his under-fire manager.

Casemiro was booked for an early couple of sluggish fouls on Joe Willock and alongside the disappointing Mason Mount and young Hannibal Mejbri struggled to contain Newcastle's energetic midfield.

The former Real Madrid stalwart then went off alongside the similarly under-par Diogo Dalot, with Ten Hag sending on Sofyan Amrabat and the fit-again Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the break.

Ten Hag has since confirmed that Casemiro came off due to injury and is expected to remain sidelined for Saturday's lunchtime trip to Fulham in the Premier League.

He did not specify exactly what issue was now troubling the 31-year-old and is uncertain at this stage how much more time he stands to miss.



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/casemiro-injury-man-utd-ten-hag-b1117586.html

[WhiteJC]

Marco Silva sets Rodrigo Muniz challenge after Fulham beat Ipswich to ease into Carabao Cup quarter-finals
Fulham will face Everton at Goodison Park in the last-eight of the Carabao Cup

Fulham boss Marco Silva challenged Rodrigo Muniz to make the forward position his own after he scored in a 3-1 win at Ipswich to send them through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2004.

The Premier League opposition proved too strong for the Championship high-flyers with Harry Wilson, Muniz and Tom Cairney on target at Portman Road before substitute Elkan Baggott pulled one back late on. Fulham travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton in the last-eight.

It was the performance of Brazil striker Muniz which caught the eye after his movement helped create Wilson's ninth-minute opener from Bobby Decordova-Reid's pass before the 22-year-old fired home in the 50th minute from Andreas Pereira's cross.

Muniz endured a difficult 2022-23 campaign on loan at Middlesbrough but, after scoring his first Fulham goal since January of last year, Silva talked up his chances of starting Saturday's clash with Manchester United.

"He is always a candidate and he had a very good pre-season," Silva said.

"Unfortunately in the moment he was showing his quality, showing how he was growing, even if last season was tough for him, he had a muscle injury and it stop a little bit his development in the pre-season.

"He came back and had a very good game against Tottenham in the first Carabao Cup match we have and he is taking his chances. So, he is always a candidate like the others, like Raul (Jimenez) and Carlos Vinicius.

"They are fighting for the position, we don't have a number one, two or three. It is for me to decide for each game regarding the strategy and what I want from the game. It is up to them to show the quality they have and to show they are able to play.

"Rodrigo did really well. Let's see what is going to be my decision for the next match."

Fulham's passage into the last-eight was clinched when Cairney's low effort went through Christian Walton in the 77th-minute. While Silva was frustrated with Baggott's headed consolation, he praised the application of his side.

He added: "Yes very good performance. Credit to the players, congratulations to them.

"It is true we did eight changes in our XI and even we probably needed more because we are going to play an early kick-off on Saturday, but in some positions it was impossible to do it.

"If I had the chance, I would do even more (changes), but the main thing for me is we kept our structure, we kept the same way. All the players know the way we want to play and we were really serious in the way we approach the game."



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/marco-silva-rodrigo-muniz-fulham-carabao-cup-man-utd-ipswich-b1117585.html

[WhiteJC]

Everton ease past Burnley to earn date with Fulham in last eight

Everton 3 - 0 Burnley
Everton booked their place in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals this evening with a comfortable 3-0 win over Burnley as Amadou Onana and Ashley Young each scored their first goals of the season.

James Tarkowski set the Blues on their way with a headed goal against his former club after 13 minutes and Sean Dyche's side completed a routine victory in the second half as Onana prodded home from close range and Young converted Beto's cross from a similar distance at the end.

As Everton paid tribute to Bill Kenwright before kick-off, with Farhad Moshiri in attendance at a home game for the first time in two years, Dyche made just two changes to the team that started at West Ham on Sunday, with Young coming back in for Nathan Patterson and Arnaut Danjuma replacing Abdoulaye Doucouré.

Everton had the first sight of goal in the seventh minute after Onana was fouled and a free-kick to the back of the area was headed back across to Dominic Calvert-Lewin but his cushioned header dropped harmlessly off target.

Four minutes later, a decent passing move involving James Garner ended with Onana firing in a low shot from 25 yards that that was comfortably gathered by Muric in the Clarets' goal.

The opening goal came shortly afterwards, though, when Onana went up for a deep free-kick by Jordan Pickford, Dwight McNeil guided a cross into the box and Tarkowski steered a header away from the goalkeeper and into the Burnley net.

McNeil drilled a rising shot over the bar after Jack Harrison had linked up nicely with Danjuma down the right flank at one end before the visitors carved their hosts open for the first time midway through the first half when Virtinho rampaged through but Jakob Bruun Larsen's attempted cut-back from the byline was knocked behind for a corner.

Calvert-Lewin tried to capitalise on O'Shea's error not far outside the Burnley box but dragged a shot well wide of the target and Onana spooned a gift over the bar when Muric spilled a deep ball into the box under pressure from Branthwaite leaving his goal empty.

Onana was dispossessed on the halfway line by Sander Berger and the Norwegian popped up again to collect the return ball but his cross looking for Jay Rodriguez to tap home was cut out in the nick of time by Garner.

Eight minutes before the break and with Burnley probing more and more purposefully in search of an equaliser, Redmond got to the byline but his cross was also cut out before it could threaten Pickford's goal.

Neither manager made any changes at the halfway stage and it was Everton who were back on the front foot to start the second period but Calvert-Lewin was flagged offside before putting the ball in the net shortly after the restart.

The striker then found himself in a two-against-one situation as he chased down a big clearance but his attempted shot took a heavy deflection and dropped behind.

From that McNeil corner, however, Tarkowski nodded the ball down at the back post into a forest of legs in Burnley's six-yard box and Onana stole in to stab it over the line and make it 2-0.

It was almost three as Everton raced away on the counter-attack and Calvert-Lewin muscled past his marker but his square pass looking for Danjuma caught the heel of the last man and took it away from the Dutchman's path.

Both forwards were replaced soon afterwards with Beto and Doucouré joining the fray with 23 minutes left and after Harrison's chipped shot cleared the bar and Beto lashed a shot into the crowd from distance, the Portuguese almost got the chance to notch his second goal for the club.

Unfortunately, he just couldn't get his foot around substitute Patterson's swinging low cross behind the defence but he would turn provider a couple of minutes after Muric had batted Young's drive wide of his goal and McNeil had seen his own shot charged down.

Beto shrugged off Al-Dakjil near the corner flag, continued to drive along the byline and then whipped the ball across where Young arrived to crash it home.

Pickford was finally required to make a save in stoppage time as Odobert tried to fire one at his near post but the Blues' keeper retained the clean sheet at Everton progressed to the last eight.

In the draw after the game, Dyche's side were handed another home tie, this time against Marco Silva's Fulham.

Full Draw:
Everton vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Newcastle United
Port Vale vs Middlesbrough
Liverpool vs West Ham

Ties to be played the week beginning 18 December



https://www.toffeeweb.com/season/23-24/news/44119.html