Fulham 2-1 Norwich City: Alex Iwobi scores first Cottagers goal in Carabao Cup win

  • Published
  • comments
Alex Iwobi celebratesImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Alex Iwobi scored his first goal for Fulham since his deadline-day move from Everton

Alex Iwobi scored on his first start for Fulham as Marco Silva's side beat Norwich City to set up a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie with Ipswich.

The Nigeria midfielder finished off a fine team move in the second half after Carlos Vinicius' first-half opener at Craven Cottage.

Norwich had more shots on target and reduced the deficit through a debut strike from Borja Sainz, but the Championship side could not find a goal to take the tie to penalties.

Vinicius put Fulham ahead on 12 minutes with a close-range finish from Willian's free-kick for his second goal in three games.

The Brazilian almost doubled the lead for Silva's side just before the break, but his first-time finish from Fode Ballo-Toure's pass was dragged just wide.

As Norwich lost possession in their own half, Fulham worked their way around the Canaries' box and Iwobi eventually scored their second in the 72nd minute with a tidy finish into the bottom corner from Harry Wilson's lay-off.

It was his first goal on his first start for the Cottagers after his deadline-day move from Everton.

David Wagner's side responded quickly as Sainz fired past Marek Rodak on the turn, but it was too little, too late for the Championship side.

Fulham will visit Championship side Ipswich in the last 16 as they look to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.

Fulham boss Marco Silva: "We had some good moments but we missed many chances to kill the game before and to score more goals. Until the moment [Iwobi's goal] we did not take the goal and against this type of team who have enthusiasm in this competition the game was tough and was always open.

"As you know he [Iwobi] is a player I know really well and I was responsible for him to sign for Everton as well. I know what he can do as a player for ourselves in different positions on the pitch. He has qualities, he's dynamic and his energy as well is going to make him an important player for us."

Norwich manager David Wagner: "It was good to see us play by our structure and principles. We are a side who can be good against a Premier League side, which is still the case even though we made changes. It was good and it will give us a major boost for what is in front of us."

Sorry, we can't display this part of the article any more.