Fulham revival under way as Aleksandar Mitrovic sets tone for Premier League survival mission

Double trouble: Sessegnon and Mitrovic hit form to hand Fulham long-awaited victory
Action Images via Reuters
James Benge24 November 2018

Aleksandar Mitrovic has emerged as one of the most fundamental players in the Premier League, a striker whose own fortunes dictate those of Fulham. Lucky for Claudio Ranieri that the man-mountain hit the peak of his powers in the first half on Saturday.

Mitrovic, a deadline day Snapchat signing by Ranieri’s predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic in January, paid ahead the £20m Fulham would eventually pay for him with the goals that fired his side towards the play-offs in the second half of last season. That form did not slow up when he moved up to the Premier League but when the goals dried up in October and November the Cottagers’ crisis deepened.

That is no wonder. There are few players who can define the performances of his 10 fellow players quite like the rampaging Serbian. When he is at his swaggering best he relishes the tussles and trips with opponents, setting the tone for team-mates who have this season struggled to blend their immaculate technique with a street-wise demeanour.

Ranieri acknowledged as much before kick-off, writing in his programme notes: “Combining quality with fighting spirit, we can do a good job.

"If there is only quality, without organisation, tactics, it's difficult to help the players maintain a clean sheet which would give us a better chance to get the points."

Worrying then, that what stood out early in the match was how weak and overawed Fulham looked against Mark Hughes’ robust opposition.

Rather than embrace the challenge Southampton offered Fulham shrunk away from it, avoiding tackles, passing sideways and refusing to push the initiative. On no occasion was that more egregious than when space opened up for Mitrovic just outside the area. Last season the long-range shot would have been an inviting option. This term the Serbian opted to thread the eye of a needle in trying to feed Tom Cairney, who did well to force as much as a corner.

Mitrovic can do a great deal with his link play but Claudio Ranieri does not need him to be a provider. He needs a bulldozer to hammer a path through defences.

When the mood struck him the 24-year-old proved he can be exactly that, and that he can carry the rest of the Fulham team with him.

In Pictures | Fulham vs Southampton | 24/11/18

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It only took a goal to prove that, the sort of strike Fulham scored at will last season. Cairney slipped in an overlapping Maxime Le Marchand and Mitrovic was just where you needed him to be, flicking home a delicate header from just outside the six yard box.

Intricacy might not be one of the first words that comes to mind where Mitrovic is concerned but he was at it again in the second half, the volley that would carry the day an immaculate strike off the outside of his foot.

The flick on for that had come from Ryan Sessegnon, whose own upswing in confidence was concurrent with Mitrovic’s towering header. The pair forged a formidable pairing last season and the senior partner set the tone for the young English winger, who soon after Fulham’s first was driving past two Southampton defenders before fizzing a cross onto the boot of Andre Schurrle to tap home a second.

There are serious issues for Ranieri to solve, none more so than the base of his midfield. Calum Chambers offered little protection and neither he nor anyone else were on hand to pick up the loose balls on the edge of the area from which Stuart Armstrong scored both Southampton goals.

At the double: Mitrovic ended his own barren streak with a fine brace
Getty Images

Similarly the back four left gaps in the dying moments that a side less profligate than Southampton (or even that same team if Hughes hadn’t bizarrely chosen to substitute Armstrong) would have pounced on.

But if fighting spirit is what Ranieri wants from his Fulham side he can rest assured he will not be left feeling shortchanged by Mitrovic.

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