Albion endured more disappointment in the capital against a clinical Fulham. Goals from Harry Wilson, Rodrigo Muniz and substitute Adama Traore made it five defeats in seven trips to London this season and Albion still haven’t beaten Fulham in the Premier League in eight attempts.
Albion had 72% possession and Evan Ferguson twice went close to getting a goal back in the second half while Facundo Buonanotte hit the post. But they couldn’t break down a resilient Fulham side whose first two scorers gave Albion lots of problems with their pace and movement.
The main surprise for a packed away end was Jan Paul van Hecke lining up alongside Carlos Baleba in central midfield for the first hour as Roberto De Zerbi opted for a 3-4-2-1 having made seven changes to the team which lost to Wolves on Wednesday.
The Dutchman looked comfortable in the role for an hour before slotting back into central defence so Lewis Dunk could take a breather with Rome on Thursday in mind. Albion started confidently without threatening much in the first 20 minutes before they conceded a poor goal. Calvin Bassey’s long diagonal from left back saw Adam Webster challenge Muniz. When Webster tried to nod the ball to Pervis Estupinan it was cut out by Muniz who found Wilson. The Wales international skipped past Webster and curled his shot beyond Steele with his left foot.
Adam Lallana and Julio Enciso, who was making his first League start since August, weren’t far away with shots from distance but Fulham doubled their lead on 32 minutes. Wilson had far too much time and space to measure his cross from the right and Muniz, having drifted into space between Webster and Dunk, beat Steele with a powerful header.
Albion ended the half without having stretched Fulham’s defence or tested Bernd Leno. That changed just after the break when the keeper held Dunk’s header from a corner, but Albion were fortunate that more mistakes weren’t punished. Wilson dragged a shot wide after Estupinan missed a tackle on halfway and then Baleba, starting in the league for the first time since 21 December, gave the ball to Alex Iwobi. He sent Andreas Pereira racing clear, only for a combination of Dunk and Steele to force him to shoot wide from an angle.
Albion weren’t out of it though and Ferguson had two opportunities in the space of three minutes. He was inches off target when he flicked Lallana’s pass past Leno but wide of the far post before latching onto a mistake by Bassey and forcing Leno to beat away his shot.
De Zerbi’s men kept plugging away and Leno was finally beaten with 12 minutes left by Buonanotte’s shot through a crowded box but the ball bounced back off the post. Albion probably knew then it wasn’t going to be their day and to rub salt into the wound Traore raced clear on the counter to make it 3-0 in stoppage time.
Albion: Steele, Veltman, Dunk (Gross 59), Webster, Estupinan, van Hecke, Baleba (Moder 77), Lamptey (Adingra 45), Lallana (Buonanotte 59), Enciso (Fati 45), Ferguson. Subs not used: Verbruggen, Julio, Welbeck, Barco.
Referee: Simon Hooper
Attendance: 24,460
Match report in association with SnickersUK.com