This was a kind of non-game. It washed over Craven Cottage, leaving little impression on anyone present. There was no intensity, no jeopardy and no hint of Rotherham causing an unlikely upset. Their sole aim was damage limitation and they at least succeeded on that front, albeit without ever making any pretence of actually trying to end Fulham’s interest in the FA Cup.
It was all understandable enough. Rotherham are bottom of the Championship, seven points off Huddersfield Town in 21st place, and have three wins in the league all season. They could be forgiven for allowing realism to trump romance. Perhaps Leam Richardson’s side even regarded a 1-0 defeat against mid-table Premier League opposition as a kind of moral triumph.
Even so it was still Fulham who went through to the fourth round after cruising through this exercise in attack versus defence. They were able to play within themselves, Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s belting early goal enough to ease Marco Silva’s side to victory, and welcomed the chance to save their legs before the more strenuous task of a Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
“Job done,” Silva said. “It was the most important thing. It was a professional performance. When you make eight changes there is always an impact. There was not the dynamic I like against a team defending so deep. But we created the chances to score more goals. We deserve to be in the next round.”
Silva wanted to keep his team fresh before they travel to Anfield for the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday. Fulham could hardly be accused of disrespecting the cup by leaving out most of their regulars. Nobody seriously expected them to have problems dispatching Rotherham, even with Bernd Leno rested in goal, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi missing and João Palhinha, Raúl Jiménez, Willian and Antonee Robinson only on the bench in case of emergency.
Silva had to trust Rodrigo Muniz to cope in place of Jiménez up front. The statistics haunting Rotherham pointed in one direction. Even the 700 hardy souls in the away end could not have expected their side to pick up their first win on the road in 29 attempts, a dismal run that stretches back to November 2022.
Jordan Hugill sending a tame header wide from a long throw during the opening exchanges was not to be mistaken for a sign of boldness from Rotherham. Their plan was so limited they barely made it out of their half during the first 20 minutes, by which point they had managed only 16% possession.
Fulham were utterly dominant, if a little blunt at first, but they were ahead after 24 minutes. Perhaps eager to get a feel for the ball, Sebastian Revan became casual when he received possession inside the Rotherham area. The press duly came, Harry Wilson dispossessing Revan, and the subsequent shot from De Cordova-Reid was enough to make any defender think twice about dawdling on the ball. Viktor Johansson, Rotherham’s goalkeeper, had no chance of saving the winger’s rising effort from 20 yards.
The frustration for Silva, though, had to be Fulham’s inability to kill the game before half-time. Rotherham might even have been level, only for Hugill to have a goal disallowed for offside after turning in a wayward shot from Tom Eaves.
Fulham needed to negate Rotherham’s stifling tactics by offering more intensity and speed in the final third. Andreas Pereira prodded against a post from Kenny Tete’s cross and Muniz was denied on the follow-up but openings were rare. There were times when Fulham looked short of ideas against opponents who were content to put 10 men behind the ball. Pereira, scheming in the No 10 role, could not quite find his range. Muniz needed to be stronger.
Fulham glimpsed the benefits of upping the pace when Wilson drifted in from the right at the start of the second half and found Timothy Castagne. Harrison Reed was unfortunate not to convert the left-back’s low cross.
The strain began to show on Rotherham, an error from Johansson almost gifting Muniz a goal. Tosin Adarabioyo went close with a powerful header, Johansson saving well. “Great credit goes to the players for the job spec,” Richardson said, hunting for positives. “We’ll only grow from that as a group of people.”
Rotherham tried to mount some late pressure and at least managed to win a few set pieces. There was no shot on target from the visitors, though. Fulham’s goalkeeper, Marek Rodak, will rarely have a quieter night.
