They may have greeted each other with a giant bear hug before kick-off but Marco Silva must be sick of facing Oliver Glasner. After suffering two defeats to them here in the space of five weeks earlier in the year, the Fulham manager could only watch on in horror as Marc Guéhi’s late header sealed another victory for Crystal Palace that moved them into the top four.
Glasner has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with Palace’s business in the summer having beaten Fulham on their way to winning the FA Cup and he was without the influential Daniel Muñoz for this trip to west London. But the Austrian has proven during his 18 months at the helm that he has a habit of defying the odds and this was a typically shrewd performance from his side after Harry Wilson’s wonder goal had cancelled out Eddie Nketiah’s opener on his first Premier League start of the campaign. It was left to Guéhi, who is set to leave the south Londoners at the end of the season when his contract expires, to seal the victory that will have Palace’s supporters dreaming of what might be possible under their remarkable manager.
This was Palace’s 24th match of the season and the first time they had been without Muñoz after the Colombia defender was ruled out due to what Glasner described before kick-off as a “swollen knee”. That meant a rare start for the 34-year-old ex-England defender Nathaniel Clyne, while Nketiah replaced the injured Ismaïla Sarr.
After instigating Fulham’s spirited comeback from 5-1 down against Manchester City in midweek, Samuel Chukwueze was one of two changes made by Silva as they attempted to build on their momentum despite that game still ending in defeat. Their manager was also frustrated by a lack of investment in the summer, even if there have been promising signs in recent weeks that the Nigeria forward has added a new dimension to a team that finished 11th – one place ahead of Palace – in May.
Had it not been for Guéhi’s brilliant block to deny Emile Smith Rowe from Alex Iwobi’s clever corner then Fulham would have taken an early lead. But Palace stood firm against the early pressure and they began to pick holes in Fulham’s defence. The imperious Adam Wharton was the architect of the opening goal when he picked out Tyrick Mitchell on the left wing before the England midfielder eventually played in Nketiah, whose crisp finish left Bernd Leno flailing at thin air.
Croydon-born Smith Rowe, who was wanted by Palace last year but joined Fulham instead from Arsenal, could not believe his eyes when Dean Henderson somehow kept out his rasping drive from Sander Berge’s through ball. Fulham continued to look dangerous, although it was Clyne who had the game’s next big chance when he found himself bearing down on goal but could only produce an air shot.
There was no doubting the quality of Fulham’s equaliser. Wilson, who scored another goal of the season contender against Tottenham last weekend, and Raúl Jiménez were on exactly the same wavelength when the Wales forward beat Maxence Lacroix to the ball. They played a one-two on the edge of Palace’s box before Wilson unleashed a sumptuous finish using the outside of his left boot.
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Glasner called on his side to create more chances in a television interview at half-time but Jean-Philippe Mateta wasted a decent opening two minutes after the restart. Fulham thought they had taken the lead through Smith Rowe after Calvin Bassey had struck the post with a header, only for his celebrations to be cut short when Chukwueze was found to have been offside in the buildup.
Concerns over Palace’s heavy workload in December that will see them play eight matches prompted Glasner to withdraw Mateta midway though the second half. Silva threw on club record signing Kevin in the hope of finding the breakthrough but it was Palace who took all three points when Guéhi beat Kenny Tete to a near-post corner and celebrated with the away fans behind the goal.
