Fulham have edged closer to the Championship final following their 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the first leg of the semi-final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday (July 24).
Josh Onomah and Neeskens Kebano were the goalscoring contributors for the visitors, who have now put themselves firmly in the box seat ahead of the return fixture at Craven Cottage this Thursday (July 30). Onomah’s goal was a thing of beauty as he waltzed past three Cardiff defenders inside the penalty area before coolly finishing past Alex Smithies in the hosts’ goal. Kebano then whipped home a wonderful free-kick in stoppage time to give Scott Parker’s a comfortable lead.
Parker has since dismissed suggestions from Cardiff City manager Neil Harris that Fulham celebrated win as if they were already at Wembley.
“Neil’s obviously said a lot over the last week and few weeks,” said the Fulham boss.
“I didn’t see anything that was over the top. Certainly at the end of the game I just see a professional team that understood there’s only half this tie done, to be honest with you.
“Regarding the goals and the celebrations, yeah of course I see players who were pleased, and rightly so, to score two goals away from home.
“I think at the end of the game I see a real professionalism about us. We understand this is only halfway through this tie and we know there will be a challenge on Thursday. We will brace ourselves for that.
“If Neil felt like that, I don’t really know why.”
Harris, who had insisted in the build-up to the game that the pressure was on Fulham, felt the visitors over-celebrated after what was an impressive performance.
“We have to dust ourselves down and go again on Thursday,” Harris told Sky Sports.
“I said to the players that the play-off finals I’ve made, we’ve been losing and we’re at half-time and we’re losing the tie.
“Fulham are celebrating like they’ve won the tie. We have to go to Craven Cottage and we have to be positive and that first goal is going to be key in that game.”
No team has ever come back from a two-goal first-leg deficit to win a Championship play-off tie, but Harris insisted his team are not finished yet.
He pointed to the fact that, in June, Northampton lost 2-0 to Cheltenham in the home leg of their League Two play-off semi-final, recovered to win the away leg 3-0 and went on to gain promotion.
“It’s an uphill battle now, but we have been written off time and time again this season and come back,” he added.
“Fulham are now huge favourites, but they have everything to lose and we have everything to gain.
“There was a 2-0 deficit in the League Two play-offs. That does not mean it will happen for us but ultimately we need to be positive.”
In the other semi-final, Swansea City, who have a 1-0 lead, take on Brentford in their second-leg match, on Wednesday (July 29).
