Fulham ended up in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Wolves, who have already been relegated, and any glimmer of hope they had of finishing in Europe was all but ended.
Marco Silva’s side have been battling against a host of other clubs to qualify for next year’s European competition, but their participation has hit a ceiling in recent weeks, with them picking up just five points from their last five games.
Broadly speaking, it has been another positive season under Silva, but Fulham are currently 13th in the table and will certainly be unable to close the goal difference needed to have a chance of finishing eighth, which is currently occupied by Brentford, and will be bitterly disappointed with the way the team dwindles towards the bottom of the table.
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Wolves forward Matheus Mane fires a rocket to open the scoring
A few poor finishes ultimately hurt the visiting team, squandering numerous chances to take the lead against the second most porous defense in the league.
Alex Iwobi and Sander Berge were guilty of blowing away the best two. Iwobi at least drew a good save from Jose Sa, but Berge’s free header from a corner inexplicably went wide.
Matheus Mane then produced a superb opener out of nowhere, saving Wolves from the ignominy of going scoreless for the 20th time this season. Adam Armstrong was also in great form in the second half, and the hosts were in complete control and looked like they had a lot more to do.
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Fulham’s Anthony Robinson scores a penalty to level the score.
Wolves missed three big chances in total, but all of their hard work was in vain as they all missed in the final 10 minutes when Fulham were looking for a winner. Silva, whose future remains uncertain, blamed nerves after the match, but the real issue was quality. Fulham didn’t have enough of it.
After scoring a stunning goal to break the deadlock, it was Mane’s mistake that cost Wolves a rare chance of victory. Anthony Robinson coolly converted his first penalty in the Premier League after catching Timothy Castagne in the box.
Even though on-field referee Thomas Kirk was in the perfect position to spot the foul, VAR had to intervene to award the spot-kick. In announcing his decision to the Molineux crowd, he called the incident an “inadvertent challenge”, but was not ready to act until he was sent to the pitchside monitor.
Tim Sherwood called it a “nail-biting penalty” on Soccer Special, adding, “The referee saw it right.”
Silva regrets missed opportunity during ‘important week’ and looks forward to future work
Fulham manager Marco Silva:
“For us, it was a game we had to win to keep our hopes alive. It was a game we had to win if we wanted to have any hope of qualifying for Europe.
“It was difficult for us to be ruthless and put the ball in the back of the net. Overall we controlled the game, but they punished us.
“We weren’t good enough in the second half. We didn’t create many chances. It was a very strange second half and it’s hard for me to find the reason. Maybe we were nervous, I don’t know. We didn’t put pressure on and we didn’t give the ball away.”
“We tried, but it didn’t work. It was difficult for us. That’s why we weren’t good enough in the second half. This week was an important week.”
Regarding his future, he added: “I’m going to meet with the board, analyze it and say some important things that will be important for the future of the club in the direction I want it to go.”
“And then a decision will be made.
“This is a time for the club to work on a lot of things. This is one of the most important summers for this football club.”
Edwards happy with offensive Wolves
Wolves manager Rob Edwards:
“We felt good from last week, and we started the game well. We had our feet, and I’m glad we were able to get the first goal.”
“In the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half, we were winning the game and maybe we went backwards, but we didn’t want that, so we put a little too much pressure on them and it led to a penalty.
“But I think we moved forward really well in the second half. We attacked the game well, we were aggressive, we had a lot of high rebounds and we had some chances that we didn’t capitalize on.”
