Fulham 2-1 Southampton: Joao Palhinha’s 88th minute header sinks Southampton

Southampton’s miserable 2022 ended with a painful 2-1 defeat at Fulham to leave them bottom of the Premier League table earlier in the year.

After James Ward-Prowse had scored at both ends either side of half time, Joao Palhinha delivered the final blow with an 88th-minute header to give Fulham all three points.

Aleksandr Mitrovic could have made it 3-1, but saw an injury time penalty saved by Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.

When you’re at the bottom of the table, luck is rarely on your side. But you also have to make your own luck. Southampton had chances to win this game and should have been ahead at half time, rather than behind.

Fulham were not at their best and this game was there for the taking after Ward-Prowse had equalized. Nathan Jones knew it too. It is now three losses from his first three league games as Saints manager, following in the footsteps of Dave Jones, Stuart Grey, Nigel Adkins and Mark Hughes who also suffered that fate.

On the bright side, the only other season Southampton were bottom of the top-flight table at the turn of the year was 1991-92, when they finished 16th and avoided relegation. It will take some effort to match that achievement in 2023.

For Fulham, it’s been a year to remember for all the right reasons. A championship title and an impressive start to a Premier League season few people expected. Marco Silva’s team keep proving people wrong, his 84 goals in 40 league games in 2022 is the most he has scored in a calendar year since he managed 85 in 2000.

There was a moving moment before kick-off when Fulham paid tribute to their former player and 1966 World Cup winner George Cohen, who passed away on December 23, before kick-off. Cohen spent his entire professional career with the Cottagers, making 459 appearances, and this was a fighting performance to do him proud.

It was the home team that asked the questions in the early stages with Willian nearly opening the scoring with a ferocious first-half volley that brushed the side netting.

But Southampton had a better chance of taking the lead when Che Adams beat the offside trap to find himself 1v1 with Bernd Leno.

The angle was tight, but Adams’s hesitancy and uncertainty were characteristic of a lack of confidence throughout this Southampton side and his effort was easily rebuffed by Leno.

The Saints were on top when Samuel Edozie played a clean one-two with Adams before firing a low shot to Leno’s throat. Mohamed Elyounoussi then sent an effort just over the bar.

When you’re bottom of the table you have to take your chances and Southampton had to pay when a piece of fortune gave Fulham the opener on 32 minutes.

Marco Silva had singled out James Ward-Prowse as Southampton’s dangerous man before kick-off, but it was in his own penalty area that the Southampton captain inadvertently found the net.

Willian’s corner selected an unmarked Pereira on the edge of the box. His shot appeared to be going wide, but Ward-Prowse’s outstretched leg deflected the ball past Bazunu into the Southampton goal.

However, Ward-Prowse was still the dangerous man, as Silva had feared. Twelve minutes after the break Bobby De Cordova-Reid gave away a cheap free kick on the edge of the box. It was prime Ward-Prowse territory and the midfielder did what he does best and sent a sensational free kick over the Fulham wall and into the top right corner of the net.

Jones perhaps felt the game was there for the taking, but his team were unable to take advantage of their draw and instead withdrew, inviting the pressure that ultimately said as the hosts pulled off a late winner. Pereira’s corner was finished off by Kenny Tete and Palhina was there at the far post to finish off with a header.

Salt should have been rubbed into the wounds when Fulham were handed an injury time penalty after Bazunu hit Dan James, but Mitrovic saw a poor effort saved. However, that failure will not tarnish what has been an extraordinary year for the striker and his team.