Relying on penalties to see off lowly opposition from League One will do little for Fulham’s morale. Marco Silva’s side are in a sticky spot, four consecutive defeats dragging them towards the Premier League’s bottom three, and making a meal out of reaching the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup at Wycombe Wanderers’ expense was not exactly the required tonic before this weekend’s vital home game against Wolves.
The positives for Fulham did not extend beyond Josh King scoring his first senior goal. The 18-year-old midfielder cancelled out Cauley Woodrow’s early opener against his old side and the favourites went through 5-4 on penalties. Benjamin Lecomte saved from Ewan Henderson, Fred Onyedinma and Donell McNeilly before Issa Diop’s emphatic spot-kick killed Wycombe off in sudden death.
There was no hint of complacency from Silva, who named a team with plenty of experience and quality, but Fulham’s confidence is fragile and there were only four minutes on the clock when diffident defending allowed a familiar face to catch them out in the fourth minute.
The blow came from Woodrow, who was unable to make much of an impression after joining Fulham for £440,000 in 2011. The 30-year-old forward, on loan at Wycombe from Luton Town, was given time to advance with the ball and he made the visitors pay by rasping a firm drive inside Benjamin Lecomte’s right post from 20 yards.
