Wednesday Fulham Stuff - 29/10/25...

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League Cup Results

Tuesday 28/10
Wycombe Wanderers	1-1	Fulham
	4-5 pens
		King
Grimsby Town	0-5	Brentford
Wrexham	1-2	Cardiff City

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Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Fulham
Fulham win 5-4 on pens

Fulham needed penalties to avoid a shock defeat by League One Wycombe and progress to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

Defender Issa Diop scored the decisive spot-kick in sudden death to give his side a 5-4 shootout win after goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte saved three Wycombe penalties.

Josh King's smart finish shortly after half-time cancelled out an early opener from former Fulham man Cauley Woodrow, but neither side could find a winner and the match finished 1-1.

Woodrow - who left Fulham in 2019 after eight years at the club - rifled in a low strike from 20 yards with less than four minutes on the clock.

The Premier League side grew into the game after that early shock and equalised in the 48th minute when King scored his first senior goal with a near-post flick from a corner.

King and £34.6m summer signing Kevin looked bright in the second half, but Fulham's five shots on target did not seriously test Wycombe goalkeeper Will Norris.

The Cottagers scored their first four penalties before Ryan Sessegnon and Jonah Kusi-Asare had their efforts saved by Norris.

Fortunately for them, Lecomte followed up his shootout-opening save from Ewan Henderson by denying Fred Onyedinma and Donnell McNeilly to give Diop the opportunity to win it.

"We know surprises happen in this competition if your approach is not serious enough," Marco Silva told Sky Sports.

"We were serious, but when you come off some bad results, you have to be positive and confident, but you feel something around and the first minutes of the game showed that.

"It was their only shot on target they had, and it was a goal we should've defended better.

"We didn't play with the intensity we should have in the first half but we did after that, and we created seven or eight clear chances. I told the players, in these types of moments, we are the first ones who have to be positive.

"We know the future is going to be better when we have players back, but we have to fight for this moment altogether."

The result ends Fulham's four-game losing streak and keeps alive their bid for a first major trophy in their 146-year history.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/czxk41dkll9t

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Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Fulham (4-5 on pens)
Fulham booked their place in the next round of the Carabao Cup after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over League One side Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park.

Former Whites forward Cauley Woodrow gave the hosts an early lead, but Josh King's first professional goal levelled the score after the break.

Despite relentless second-half pressure from Marco Silva's men, the tie went to penalties, where Benjamin Lecomte emerged the hero, saving three Wycombe spot-kicks.

The game had barely begun when Woodrow struck against his former club, collecting the ball in midfield and firing past Lecomte to give the Chairboys a fourth-minute advantage.

Fulham responded immediately, piling on the pressure with a series of corners. Adama Traoré and Kevin both delivered dangerous crosses, and only a superb save from Will Norris denied Raúl Jiménez's header from drawing the visitors level.

Adama was then presented with a good chance after being slipped through by Kevin, but his effort was deflected behind. Moments later, King dispossessed defender Connor Taylor and teed up Tom Cairney, whose first-time strike fizzed narrowly wide.

Kevin continued to look threatening, first supplying a deep cross that Raúl forced Norris to tip over, then going close himself with a strike from the edge of the area. At the other end, Wycombe almost doubled their lead on the counter, but Fred Onyedinma's attempted chip failed to find the target.

Before the break, Fulham carved out another opportunity when Kevin's delivery found Timothy Castagne, whose header flew just wide.

The equaliser arrived soon after the restart as Kevin's corner was expertly flicked in at the near post by King to make it 1-1 and hand Fulham the momentum.

Silva's side pushed for a winner, with Cairney and Raúl both firing wide following clever set-piece routines. Kevin then went close with a driving run and powerful strike that Norris tipped over the bar.

Substitute Jonah Kusi-Asare, on for the injured Raúl, almost connected with Adama's cross but couldn't apply the finishing touch.

As the game entered the final minutes, Kevin burst down the left and cut inside, only to be denied once again by Norris. King came agonisingly close moments later, his shot on the turn skimming just wide, before Kevin saw another effort cleared off the line in stoppage time. With the scores level, the tie went to penalties.

Lecomte set the tone for the shootout by pushing Ewan Henderson's effort wide, allowing Saša Lukić to give Fulham the early advantage. Both Luke Leahy and Adama converted, as did Caolan Boyd-Munce and Kevin. Anders Hagelskjær and Alex Iwobi also found the net to keep the pressure on.

After Sam Bell scored for Wycombe, Ryan Sessegnon had the chance to seal it but was denied by Norris. The tension rose as both Onyedinma and Kusi-Asare saw their efforts saved, but when Lecomte kept out Donnell McNeilly, Issa Diop stepped up and hammered home the decisive spot-kick to send Fulham through.
Wycombe: Norris, Grimmer, Taylor, Hagelskjær, Allen (Harvie 57'), Leahy, Henderson, Onyedinma, Mullins (Boyd-Munce 68'), Bell, Woodrow (McNeilly 68')

Subs: van Sas, Harvie, Junior Quitirna, Boyd-Munce, Fink, Casey, McNeilly, Westergaard, Lowry

Fulham FC: Lecomte, Castagne, Diop, Cuenca (Sessegnon 45'), Bassey, Cairney (Iwobi 65'), Reed (Lukić 71'), King, Traoré, Jiménez (Kusi-Asare 74'), Kevin

Subs: Leno, Tete, Berge, Iwobi, Kusi-Asare, Lukić, Sessegnon, Amissah, Ridgeon



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2025/october/28/wycombe-1-1-fulham/

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Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Fulham (4-5 pens): Benjamin Lecomte spares Cottagers' blushes with shootout heroics
The summer signing made three saves in the shootout as the west Londoners dodged an ignominious exit from the Carabao Cup

Fulham survived a mighty scare to edge past Wycombe 5-4 on penalties to progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw at Adams Park.

Josh King scored his first goal in senior football to equalise for the Premier League side at the start of the second half after Cauley Woodrow netted in the fourth minute against his former club.

The League One side then held out as Marco Silva's team put them under waves of pressure, surviving a heart-stopping moment deep in added time when Anders Hagelskjaer cleared Kevin's strike off the line.

In the shoot-out that followed, Fulham twice missed the chance to win it as Ryan Sessegnon and Jonah Kusi-Asare were denied by goalkeeper Will Norris.

But the hosts could not take advantage and after Donnell McNeilly's kick was saved by Benjamin Lecomte, Issa Diop thumped in the winner.

Fulham were facing a fifth defeat in a row in all competitions following a dire Premier League run that had seen them slip to 17th.

Wycombe by contrast had lost only once in six games in the league since Michael Duff replaced Mike Dodds in September and they stunned their opponents early though Woodrow.

There seemed to be little on when the Luton loanee picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, but with Fulham expecting an attempted through-ball they stood off, allowing Woodrow the time he needed to pick out the corner and find it with an unerring strike that sped past Benjamin Lecomte.

Norris in Wycombe's goal needed smart reflexes to keep out Raul Jimenez's firm header, then Tom Cairney struck a firm left-footed effort that bent just the wrong side of the post.

Club record-signing Kevin tried to engineer something coming in off the right and driving a shot wide of the far post, before Timothy Castagne spurned Fulham's best chance of the half when he failed to make proper contact on a cross that glanced off his head and wide.

Fulham levelled three minute into the second half. Kevin's corner to the near post was met by King who got in front of his man to flick the ball in with his right foot.

Cairney then saw a fierce hit finger-tipped over the crossbar by Norris and Jimenez volleyed wide from a good position as the game began to tip in Fulham's favour.

Kevin twice went close to giving Silva's side the lead, first with a well-hit shot from range that Norris turned over then when volleying off target from inside the box.

King missed a golden chance to win it in the 89th minute, turning brilliantly on the ball before wasting the opening with a wayward shot wide, before Fulham squeaked through in the shoot-out.



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-wycombe-result-carabao-cup-b1255350.html

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Marco Silva bemoans injury crisis as Fulham make lucky escape in Wycombe
The Cottagers were without several first-team players as they beat the Wanderers on penalties

Marco Silva suggested that injuries were to blame for Fulham's shaky form after they required a penalty shootout to beat League One strugglers Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.

The Cottagers found themselves trailing early after former Fulham player Cauley Woodrow opened the scoring from range with four minutes played. Josh King equalised after the break with his first senior goal before Benjamin Lecomte saved three spot-kicks in the shootout to spare his side's blushes and book a place in the quarter-final.

Speaking at full-time, Silva acknowledged the performance was not good enough, but said the situation was largely out of his hands.

He told Sky Sports: "Of course, we knew our obligation was to be in the next round even though it's not a word that should be in football because we know surprises happen in this competition if your approach is not serious enough.

"We didn't play with the intensity we should have in the first half but we did after that, and we created seven or eight clear chances. I told the players, in these types of moments, we are the first ones who have to be positive.

"We know the picture in our club, in our dressing room. We know the future is going to be better when we have players back, but we have to fight for this moment altogether."

"We aim high in these competitions. The team has been very very competitive in all the cup games. With more players available, we will be much stronger."

Fulham were without several first-team players for the match, including the likes of Rodrigo Muniz, Joachim Andersen, Harry Wilson, and Emile Smith Rowe, while Raul Jimenez came off in the second half with an issue.

Silva added he hoped the win would be enough to reverse Fulham's miserable run. They came into Tuesday's match having lost four on the spin.

"We were serious, but when you come off some bad results, you have to be positive and confident, but you feel something around and the first minutes of the game showed that.

"[Wycombe's goal] was their only shot on target they had, and it was a goal we should've defended better."

With fellow strugglers Wolves due to visit in the Premier League this weekend, Silva called on Fulham's fans to get behind the team as they look to build on the midweek win: "The players have to be positive, we have to play well to boost confidence. The fans need to make the Cottage a fortress on Saturday."



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/silva-fulham-injury-crisis-wycombe-b1255356.html

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Fulham scrape through penalties at Wycombe to reach EFL Cup last eight
Woodrow and King score for both sides before Lecomte heroics win dramatic shoot-out

Fulham's league form might be falling to pieces... and our cup performances aren't much better! But, for a brief while, this is immaterial - through a game we went a goal down in, via a nervy penalty shootout that stretched into sudden death, Marco Silva's team have scraped themselves through another tight match against lower league opposition. Wycombe Wanderers (like Cambridge and even Bristol City) can be proud of their effort tonight, and will likely fret over how close they came to making the last 8 of the League Cup - for us, the relief of avoiding another miserable headline will have to suffice.

First Half
Fulham fans, amongst reading the changes made to our own team for the cup, may have noted a couple of familiar faces in the home strip today. They'd certainly realised a few minutes after kick-off. What seemed a routine goal-kick morphed into Wycombe possession and a goal for Cauley Woodrow, once-upon-a-time a Fulham academy prospect. Some early dithering from Fulham let them take the ball, and through Onyedinma, Leahy and Mullins, Woodrow stepped away from King and angled his body to whip the ball goalwards, sailing between Lecomte's dive and the right-hand post. It was a brilliant strike, and ought to have been a wake-up call for Silva's squad - Wycombe were not interested in giving Fulham an easy evening.

Premier League teams aren't alien to being caught off guard, and with a bit of energy the quality in our line-up should have been able to kick us into gear. We certainly got on the ball - Bassey at LB easily morphed into a three-CB backline, Castagne moved to the right to overlap with Traore and Reed sat deeper to allow Cairney to try and operate closer to the forwards. But possession hasn't been the problem of late with Fulham, and evidently Wycombe were prepared for our gameplan. Bell, the LM, was confident tucking into defence, cooperating with Allen to stop our overlaps from inflicting damage, whilst Taylor was sharp to balls heading into the box. The forwards had the speed and awareness to track back, denying Fulham space in the final third. Henderson in particular was valiant in midfield, winning the ball and feeding it to Bell and the rapid Onyedinma.

We didn't help ourselves though. The football was slow, sometimes turgid, and our players struggled to put Wycombe under serious pressure, be it through hesitating on the ball or playing awful passes. Andersen's long-balls from defence were really missed, as Cuenca smacked several out of play. Reed wasn't much better, as his distribution swung between ponderous and pitiful (far too many attempted dinks). Kevin had the pace down the left but Jack Grimmer, another former Fulham talent, was alert, and won several battles against the speedy Brazilian; Traore's unwanted parlour trick of running, slowing and losing the ball reared itself far too often, with Castagne inheriting the poor crossing whenever he managed to get the ball on the right.

Granted, there were some chances. King was easily our brightest spark, the one player putting some life into the attack, and his work taking the ball forward brought out the best in his teammates. On one occasion, Cairney bent an effort created by the young starlet just wide, and another saw him wriggle into a shooting position but drag the ball along the floor into the keeper. Whilst the majority of the crosses were dealt with, Jimenez ought to have done more with the ones that weren't, heading balls from Kevin and Traore straight to Norris. Wycombe too had their moments, hungry to pounce on the break, and Cuenca and Diop needed to be sharp with their clearances to stop them doubling their lead. Onyedinma writhed free of Bassey on the left a few times and had a shot swing just wide at one point - Fulham would have really felt the pressure of the cup then.

Second Half
Evidently Silva needed a response from his players, and his substitution demonstrated our need for attacking intent. Cuenca was perhaps unfortunate to have his game end at half-time but the arrival of Sessegnon, switching with Bassey to play at LB, was a clear message to the players - step up the attack. And what a change it was - after a couple of quickfire stabs at goal from Mullins flew by, Kevin and Sess worked the ball quickly down the left, won a corner off Onyedinma, and from the Brazilian's delivery King flicked his foot upwards and directed the ball up into the net, quicker than Norris could get his hands up. 1-1 - arguably one of Grimmer or Leahy should have made contact before the diminutive King did but the finish was exceptional, from our best player thus far, and set the stage for Fulham to blow Wycombe away entirely. Right?

The proceedings looked positive for us - Sess had Grimmer in his sights, linking well with Kevin to travel down our left. King, active as ever, was key to a few opportunities here, turning defenders to run into the space behind them. Kevin received the ball on one such turn, seeing his shot pushed over the bar by Norris. But the sharpness of the team isn't where it ought to be, and after Wycombe's fears of being felled by our quality subsided, the game settled back into its first half trappings - long spells on the ball, hesitancy in the final third being punished by astute Wycombe defenders, Fulham scrambling back to stop Bell and Onyedinma bursting into our box unopposed.

Premier League players train to a higher intensity than those in League One, and Wycombe's troops started to tire - Allen came off for Harvie, Woodrow and Mullins were switched for McNeilly and Boyd-Munce and the team sat deeper in their half to absorb the growing pressure. We'd started tweaking things ourselves - after Cairney needed Reed's help to deal with a surging Bell, Iwobi arrived to add a bit of energy to our engine, and the aforementioned Englishman left for Lukic's steel shortly afterwards. Traore's pace was starting to sink Wycombe's left-flank - again though, the composure in the box wasn't there - Jimenez was too awkwardly placed on the turn to fire an immediate shot, and Kevin snatched at the Mexican's lay-off by putting his effort over the bar.

Other than speculative long-throws from Hagelskjaer, Wycombe were firmly camped in their own half. Jimenez, a ragged figure after weeks of intense football, trudged off for the lesser-spotted Jonah Kusi-Asare. Whilst the Swede didn't quite have the grace of a top striker - or, at times, a professional footballer - he at least occupied the minds of Taylor and Hagelskjaer enough to give King a little more space. The substitutions were working to some extent. Lukic had us recycling the ball well, and Iwobi's insightful passing had the team in dangerous positions frequenlty. Our shooting boots had deserted us though, and made the end of the game a frustrating watch. From the left, Iwobi's pass to King saw him shoot over the bar, whilst a cross produced from Traore cutting inside fizzed just past the boot of a slow-to-react JKA.

Such mistakes compound, and drained the confidence of the team. Kevin was still a livewire but his clinicality had deserted him, smacking a string of crosses out of play under little pressure. Traore, much as in his weaker moments in the first half, worked himself into terrific positions but took too long to think, overcomplicating his moves and being tackled by the defender. Even as we started poking serious holes in the defence, the ball wouldn't find the net. Iwobi's vision produced a killer through ball for Kevin, who strode into the box on the left, cut inside but placed a low effort along the ground for Norris to stop with his feet, and King again flashed at a similarly well-timed ball from the left to drag it wide. Traore, to his credit, kept plugging away down the right, and might have had an assist in the closing minutes - Norris' sprawling punch from one effort gave Kevin a shooting chance with the keeper off his line, but his effort was grounded and Hagelskjaer cleared it off the line, and with the last serious effort King couldn't get the ball out from under his feet quick enough to pull the trigger. And with the end of stoppage time, the full-time whistle brought about a dreaded tie-breaker - penalties.

Penalties
Are there fans that can stomach watching their side in these contests? It doesn't matter that our record with penalties under Marco has been decent (since our promotion, ignoring the Preston marathon shootout, we've won all of them) - the thought of being dumped out of the cup on penalties, to Wycombe no less, makes the whole thing miserable.

Henderson, one of the night's better players, took the first one for Wycombe... and what a relief, Lecomte dove right, pushed the shot away, and gave us an early advantage! Lukic struck a powerful effort to the bottom left of the goal to put us a goal up. From here, the scoring fluctuated between the sides, Wycombe keeping themselves in the game, Fulham overcoming the nerves to reestablish the advantage, etching a step closer to the next round with each conversion.

Leahy drove his to the bottom right for 1-1,Traore smacked a powerful effort high and left for 2-1, Boyd-Munce struck a quick penalty leftwards for 2-2, Kevin's weird, stuttery run-up snuck past Norris for 2-3, Hagelskjaer slammed a shot above Lecomte for 3-3. Iwobi, perhaps reminding us that penalties aren't a procession, had his penalty correctly predicted by Norris... but the ball ricocheted upwards off his arm and made it 3-4, and Bell once again levelled the scoring with an excellently placed effort into the top left corner for 4-4. Thus, Sessegnon had the chance to finish the game with the final penalty of the regular shootout. What could go wrong?

It felt inevitable that something would go wrong. A poor shot to the Norris' left was stopped by the keeper, the home fans went wild, and it felt as though the stadium would cave in on Fulham. Thankfully, Lecomte was still awake, and pounced on Wycombe's first poor penalty since the first - Onyedinma's effort was correctly predicted and pushed away from the right of the goal. A second match point for Fulham then... and up stepped Jonah Kusi-Asare, phantom striker, curiously positioned beside the ball for his strike. His acute dink didn't trouble Norris, who calculated the angle JKA's stance would inevitably take the ball and prevented the goal. Again, we have Lecomte to thank - an acrobatic punch stopped McNeilly's powerful strike flying in. Finally, Issa Diop calmly stepped up to take our third match-winning penalty - not wanting to give Norris a chance, he cannoned his spot-kick into the top left corner, sealing the shootout 5-4 and taking us through to the next round.

Frustrating Night for Fulham
The Fulham fanbase is in varying states of discontent at the moment, and other than the relief at avoiding being kicked out of the cup by an EFL side there won't be much respite from the negativity. There were bits and pieces that worked on the pitch - King is a diamond in the rough at this point in the season, Iwobi demonstrated again what is possible when he's trusted in the centre and actual pace from Kevin and Traore against fullbacks can get the ball into the box when they focus. All of this is tempered by the fact the opposition plays two divisions below us, and certainly don't have the luxury of introducing numerous international footballers to help salvage the match!

If anything, more questions might be produced from the game. Jimenez was broken and exhausted when he came off and urgently needs a rest, but Kusi-Asare looked extra-terrestrial alongside the Fulham regulars and it feels a massive leap to see Silva trusting him in the Premier League. Reed works hard off the ball, but his tempo and quality on it is mediocre, and the difference in both when Lukic came on illustrates why he's had such a hard time getting gametime in recent matches. Kevin has the spark, and definitely the speed, when he's on the ball, but is infuriating to watch - Grimmer got let off a few times by the Brazilian miscontrolling his touches and losing possession on his own.

And Adama Traore... there is a sensational footballer somewhere in the man, and when he rolls the figurative double-six and pieces together a rapid, mazy run with a smart cross you can see what it would look like. Unfortunately his teammates don't finish the crosses he puts in, leaving the spotlight fixed on far, far too many ugly moments of Traore bungling scorable opportunities with tedious, lethargic decision-making.

We should take the chance to praise Wycombe here, who were responsible for much of this frustration. There's a good case for several of their players to be MOTM, and not just because of the Fulham connection! Grimmer led the team diligently, both centre-backs should be proud of their resilience in the face of numerous dribbly attacks and Henderson bolstered Wycombe around the park excellently, even coming close to crafting goals for the hosts. I don't think the portrait of the game is solely Fulham grasping at nothing - our opponents were effective enough on the night to take us to sudden death in a penalty shoot-out, and that deserves commendation.

However, they will return to lower-level ability in League One this weekend, and we have a must-win game against Wolves, a team with a manager surely eyeing a win at Craven Cottage to kickstart their season. It is imperative that the better elements of tonight's match - King's dynamic attacking, Iwobi's creativity, Lukic's composure on the ball and Sessegnon and Kevin combining nicely on the left - are bottled and elevated to the level of the Premier League. Cuenca's early substitution suggests he is being saved for the game, but regardless the defence cannot have the complacency to coast and expect Wolves to roll over for us, as I suspect might have influenced the team during Woodrow's early strike. There's a lot to get right on Saturday, and a lot we need to avoid - for now, let us at least be proud of another quarter-final appearance in a domestic cup.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/p/fulham-scrape-through-penalties-at

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Josh King has 'things that are not easy to find' – Marco Silva
The youngster's goal helped stave off a Carabao Cup shock as Fulham beat Wycombe on penalties.

Fulham manager Marco Silva said Josh King has qualities that are "not easy to find" after the 18-year-old scored his first senior goal as Fulham edged past Wycombe on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

The League One side looked on track for a memorable upset when former Fulham player Cauley Woodrow lashed them in front inside four minutes at Adams Park.

King's goal, flicked in cleverly from a near-post corner to equalise just after half-time, put the visitors into the ascendency with Silva's team creating more than enough chances to finish the tie in 90 minutes.

Instead penalties were needed to determine who progressed to the quarter-final, Fulham spurning two chances to win it before Issa Diop struck the winning kick to edge it 5-4.

Silva, whose side were on a four-match losing run in the Premier League, praised King for his "streetwise" finish from Kevin's corner to rescue his side.

"He has a role there," he said. "His role was to go in front of the player. He was streetwise and that's what I want from all of the players.

"We have a role to try and block players in that situation. He was very smart the way he finished that moment.

"I'm very pleased to have him with us. We, and himself, prepared him very well last season. Since he was 16 I spoke with him, that the season after he is going to be a senior player for this club.

"He made his debut at 17. He's a lovely boy, he's very humble. He has many things to improve, his finishing, but he has many good things that it is not easy to find in football at his age.

"He's playing every game because we trust him and he deserves the trust."

Fulham looked short of confidence after going a goal down and struggled to break Wycombe down.

"These type of moments can happen in this competition," he said. "To be honest, I think we did enough. We knew we were stronger than them.

"In these type of moments we have to keep positivity around ourselves, because these type of things happen. First shot on target, goal for Wycombe. That's football.

"The results haven't been at all good enough for us. Some difficult circumstances, some difficult opposition. But I think the team is being very competitive in all the games. I'm sure that with all the squad available we are going to be much stronger."

Wycombe boss Michael Duff, who took over at Adams Park in September, reflected on a brave showing from his players.

"The attitude and mentality of the players has been brilliant since I walked in and we have to keep on working," he said.

"We defended with our backs to the wall, showed moments of quality with and without the ball as we knew we weren't going to outdo Fulham's football.

"I'm proud of the performance as the players did everything I asked them to."



https://www.irishnews.com/sport/soccer/josh-king-has-things-that-are-not-easy-to-find-marco-silva-Q2ZNS5SUCNIDZHWD7BGSNZSF2A/