Harry Wilson, Emile Smith Rowe and Kevin scored in the second half as Fulham fought back to secure a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
Hayden Hackney gave the second-placed side in the Championship a deserved lead early on at Craven Cottage, before substitute Wilson netted a fine equalizer with an hour remaining.
Tommy Conway hit Boro’s crossbar, but shortly afterwards Smith Rowe scored to put Fulham ahead with 13 minutes remaining. Kevin scored the hosts’ third goal in stoppage time to seal the victory.
The defeat was Boro’s historic sixth consecutive FA Cup defeat, extending their winning streak in the London competition to 23 games in the past 69 years.
Fulham’s Harry Wilson scores equalizer against Middlesbrough
Fulham manager Marco Silva made seven changes from the squad that beat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday, but was forced to watch from the stands after receiving a touchline ban. And he would have been bitterly disappointed with his team’s first-half performance.
There were warning signs for his players with four minutes left. Morgan Whittaker found Sam Silvera and his first-time cross was directed goalward by Conway, only to be stopped by goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte’s outstretched leg.
However, Boro made a deserved breakthrough in the 30th minute. Silvera played a silky one-two with Aidan Morris before rising to a challenge from Ryan Sessegnon and playing the ball back square from the byline for Hackney to calmly convert.
“The Premier League is smiling,” he said to the noisy cheers from the visitors.
Fulham had a chance in the final minutes of a grueling 45 minutes when Jorge Cuenca tipped Harrison Reid’s corner kick on target, but Luke Ayling’s impressive goal-line clearance ensured his side took the lead just before half-time.
Wilson, Raul Jimenez and Tom Cairney were all brought on just 10 minutes after half-time to turn the tide in Fulham’s favor. And when Wilson came up with the special equalizer, it worked.
In fact, the substitute picked up Kevin’s wayward cross before it was out of the penalty area, giving the Boro defense too much time.
He was allowed to keep his cool on the edge of the box before curling a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
The goal might have been expected to be a blow to Boro’s confidence, but minutes later Conway’s shot inside the box hit Lecomte’s crossbar and they came close to restoring their lead.
In the 71st minute, Kevin latched on to Wilson’s defence-slicing pass, but his bent shot went just wide of the target. The influential Wilson then tried to repeat his equaliser, but this time Bullin equalized with a Boro stopper, also denying Anthony Robinson’s chase.
Fulham had the upper hand and Smith Rowe scored the goal. The former Arsenal player drove towards the Boro defence, found Wilson, collected Cairney’s pass which was unmarked inside the area and fired a shot past Bullin.
Boro could have reacted almost immediately, but Whittaker wavered his lines and deflected a strike wide when he should have found the target. Kevin then added a third goal in stoppage time from Wilson’s superb cross as Fulham secured their sixth successive third-round win.
Silva: Had to be at the highest level
Fulham manager Marco Silva:
“It’s always difficult when you come from games against Crystal Palace (in the Premier League), Liverpool and Chelsea, but the motivation is always there so I don’t demand too much mental effort from the players.
“Even though the FA Cup is always special and you play at home, it’s always difficult to play a Championship team from Liverpool or Chelsea, even if they’re very good teams.
“And we didn’t want to underestimate them and think we were guaranteed a place in the next round. We had to be at our best level, but we were in the second half.”
Helberg was disappointed to see Boro leave.
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Helberg:
“I have mixed feelings. I felt like we had a good chance to win and it was up for grabs.
“The game was pretty even for 60 or 70 minutes. I was impressed with how he played and there were a lot of good points, but it was disappointing not to win the game.”
