Huddersfield 1-5 Fulham: Marco Silva's side go top of the Championship

Huddersfield 1-5 Fulham: Marco Silva’s side go top of the Championship after convincing win at the John Smith’s Stadium

• Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic gave the Cottagers the lead in Yorkshire
• Goals from Josh Onomah and Fabio Carvalho gave Fulham a 3-1 half time lead 
• Ivan Cavaleiro scored a brace and Harry Wilson was sent off in the second half
• Matty Pearson scored Huddersfield’s consolation shortly before half time

It remains very early days, but Fulham served up the kind of performance which had them looking every inch promotion material.

Their teamwork was peerless, their conviction unshakeable as they reduced hapless Huddersfield to so much rubble in front of their disbelieving and, ultimately, angry supporters.

Healing the scars of last season’s relegation from the Premier League will take some doing, but Marco Silva is promising to write a new chapter after taking over from Scott Parker.

Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates after putting Fulham 1-0 up at the John Smith’s Stadium

Parker jumped ship for Bournemouth during the summer, yet on this evidence the Cottagers appear a decent bet to make an instant return to the top flight under Silva.

They purred ominously in West Yorkshire and, had they added several more goals to their tally, nobody in the home stands could have complained.

Bobby Decordova-Reid produced three assists and Silva beamed: ‘We deserved the three points and were the best team on the pitch again.

‘Unfortunately we didn’t get what we deserved last week [against Middlesbrough], despite having chances.

Fabio Carvalho (left) celebrates after his goal put Fulham 3-1 up shortly before half time

‘This afternoon we scored five. We had some luck with the first goal but we had three or four clear chances to score more.

‘In the end it was a fair result and the players did well. We controlled the game against a team who like to press really high.’

A crowd of 15,126 turned up hoping to see signs of progress from the Carlos Corberan era, with the Spaniard having taken over last summer after two years working under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds.

Corberan’s side flirted with relegation last season and they were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle here.

Ivan Cavaleiro scored a brace as the Cottagers stormed to a 5-1 victory at Huddersfield 

Credit to Fulham, of course. They were simply too strong and too vibrant in every department as they went top of the Championship.

When £12million summer signing Harry Wilson was sent off in the 73rd minute for kicking out at Levi Colwill, the visitors simply moved through the gears and scored twice more through substitute Ivan Cavaleiro.

There will be greater challenges for Fulham. There has to be. It cannot be this easy.

But the manner in which they systematically took control of the match after Huddersfield had an early goal disallowed – Matty Pearson rifled home before an offside flag was raised – will fill Silva with much confidence.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

HUDDERSFIELD (4-2-3-1): Schofield 5; Turton 6, Sarr 6, Pearson 6, Colwill 6; Hogg 6, Vallejo 6 (High 45, 6); Koroma 6, Holmes 5 (Rhodes 67, 5), Thomas 6; Ward 65 (Campbell 45, 6)

Booked: Colwill

Subs (not used): Bilokapic, Pipa, Rhodes, Brown, Lees

Manager rating: Carlos Coberan 5

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga 6; Tete 6, Tosin 6, Ream 6, Robinson 6; Onomah 7 (Cavaleiro 77, 7), Seri 6 (Francois 86); Wilson 6, Carvalho 7 (Anguissa 77, 6), Decordova-Reid 8; Mitrovic 7

Booked: Decordova-Reid

Sent off: Wilson

Manager rating: Marco Silva 8

Subs (not used): Rodák, Kebano, Bryan, Mawson

REFEREE: D Whitestone (Northamptonshire) 6

 In the ninth minute, Town goalkeeper Ryan Schofield’s attempted clearance bizarrely rebounded off Aleksandar Mitrovic and into the net for the opening goal. 

Josh Onomah nodded in a second from close range but Pearson headed home for Huddersfield before Fabio Carvalho rifled in a low shot to make it 3-1 at the break.

Mitrovic had another goal disallowed and also fired straight at Schofield when he should have scored.

After the break, Wilson, signed from Liverpool, hit the crossbar from 20 yards before being fouled by Colwill and then kicking out at him, sparking a melee between both sets of players.

Colwill was booked for the initial challenge and Wilson saw red for his reaction, with Silva saying of the incident: ‘I haven’t seen it again yet, but we have to keep our emotional balance really strong.

‘These type of players should be more protected because they are suffering these kind of tackles all the time. If we don’t protect them, who will?’

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Fulham substitute Cavaleiro produced two fine finishes in the final quarter to leave Corberan devastated.

He admitted: ‘Where went wrong? Many things.

‘We need to analyse and be self-critical because I’m focused on finding solutions to the situation.’

Tuesday’s visit of Preston has taken on added importance for Corberan, while the prospect of star midfielder Lewis O’Brien being sold to Leeds or Crystal Palace remains a possibility.

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