Goals from Bobby de Cordova-Reid, Tim Ream and Aleksandar Mitrovic inspired Fulham to victory over nine-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Dominant throughout, Marco Silva’s side were helped by Palace’s indiscipline in either half, which put a stop to their hopes of a fourth straight home win.
Tyrick Mitchell was shown a red card for a foul on Kenny Tete just three minutes after his side went behind, and James Tomkins followed him before the hour.
The result strengthens the visitors’ unlikely European push, as they sit in eighth, just two points off the top six.
Heading towards the half-hour mark, Palace, having struggled to impose themselves early on, almost took the lead.
Clever play by Michael Olise freed Jordan Ayew inside the area, but he saw his effort crash off the bar.
Fulham made them pay moments later when De Cordova-Reid headed the visitors into a deserved lead as Mitrovic pounced on slack play from Joachim Andersen before finding his team-mate with a pinpoint cross.
The hosts’ misery was compounded further when Mitchell was dismissed after Tete reached a loose ball first and was caught by the Palace man.
Any chance of a quick Palace resurgence were quashed 12 minutes after the break. Tomkins, on a booking, appeared to elbow Mitrovic off the ball, resulting in a second red card of the game.
Ream then reacted quickly to Mitrovic’s knock-down from a corner to double Fulham’s lead on 71 minutes.
Referee Andy Madley checked the VAR monitor for a potential handball against the Serb, only to stick with his original decision, before Mitrovic made it three 10 minutes from time.
source – BBC
