Fulham were defeated by Bournemouth 1-0 at Craven Cottage in a match when both sides went down to 10 men. The defeat leaves the Cottagers’ European hopes hanging by a thread.
Fulham’s European hopes were all but ended as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage to Bournemouth.
Both sides went down to 10-men at half-time after Ryan Christie was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Timothy Castagne, before Fulham captain Joachim Andersen was also shown red for a tackle of a similar nature on Adrien Truffert.
Fulham had large spells of dominance in both halves but could not make it count, and eight minutes into the second half, Bournemouth’s in-form Brazilian winger Rayan netted his third goal in as many games.
The Cottagers continued to show signs of their impressive home form but were unable to get onto the scoresheet.
Starting with Rodrigo Muniz over Raul Jimenez, the Brazilian again struggled, with three shots and an xG of 0.65 but no shots on target.
It was a familiar tale throughout their attack, with the team only getting two of their 14 shots on target.
Fulham could have gone a man down before they did, with another of Bournemouth’s in-form teenagers, Junior Kroupi, nailing a shot against the crossbar.
Rayan then gave Bournemouth the lead, and from then on it was an uphill task for Fulham.
There was a welcome return to the field for Kevin, the Brazilian winger who has been out since he broke his metatarsal against Sunderland on February 22.
He was almost the spark once again for Fulham, with a brilliant strike that required a top save from Bournemouth’s Serbian goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
And, to give credit to Fulham’s mental strength, they did not give up, pushing Bournemouth all the way into stoppage time.
Josh King smacked an effort off the underside of the crossbar in added time but in the end it was another day where Fulham could not quite make things happen.
It is a result that surely ends their Champions League dream and will now need results to go their way if they are to enter into one of the smaller European competitions.
With Brighton comfortably beating Wolves and Bournemouth getting three points at Craven Cottage, Fulham are left needing a lot of things to happen to playing abroad next year.
They sit three points behind Brentford, who lost 3-0 to Manchester City, and command eighth spot.
That can still be a Conference League place, assuming Manchester City win the FA Cup.
So there is stll a small chance that Fulham can get into Europe but they are now overly reliant on others getting the job done as well as themselves getting the required points.
Six points from Wolves and Newcastle is required and then what will be, will be.