Things were always going to be tight in this battle of two of the Premier League’s more upwardly mobile sides and so it proved until the fifth minute of added time. At that stage, it looked as though Jan Paul van Hecke’s header that cancelled out Raúl Jiménez’s excellent strike would give Brighton and Fulham a share of the points. But a contentious late penalty from João Pedro, after he was fouled by the substitute Harrison Reed, gave Fabian Hürzeler’s side a sixth straight victory in all competitions to lift them up to sixth place and leave Marco Silva fuming at the injustice of it all. The Fulham manager stood motionless at the final whistle after the referee, Sam Barrott, pointed at the spot, barely able to believe his side had been beaten. The sun may have been shining on the south coast but the tempo of this game throughout reflected the fact there was no chance of either side being on the beach just yet. Both booked their places in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last weekend and – even if they are now separated by four points – continue to harbour realistic ambitions of qualifying for Europe next season via the Premier League. Continue reading...

Maybe Newcastle were distracted by the prospect of reaching Wembley on Wednesday night or perhaps they have simply hit a bit of a mid-winter wall but, whatever the precise reason, they could not cope with Adama Traoré and his friends from Fulham. The visiting right winger excelled on the counterattack as goals from Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Muniz consigned Eddie Howe’s side to a second successive home defeat. Quite apart from denting their hopes of Champions League qualification it was hardly an ideal dress rehearsal for Newcastle’s midweek Carabao Cup semi-final second leg home date with Arsenal. Continue reading...

A tale of three penalties and an outcome that, ultimately, was fair. Fulham were staring down the barrel of a rare defeat when Raúl Jiménez converted his second spot-kick of the afternoon at the start of added time and could feel they never quite did enough to defeat a well-drilled Ipswich. Kieran McKenna’s team had led twice, through Sammie Szmodics and a penalty of their own from Liam Delap; whether this was one that got away remains to be seen but they do not carry themselves as if destined for the drop. Any student of two compact, laudably coached teams might have expected a chess match at the outset, albeit one a Fulham side beaten just once in 11 games were favoured to shade. Marco Silva has made them purr, even allowing for a high draw count, and given them the kind of presence Ipswich would love to attain in time. Continue reading...

Raúl Jiménez gave Fulham the lead and William Saliba equalised for Arsenal – of course from a corner – before Bukayo Saka’s late winner was disallowed for offside Email! “Especially big shout out for Lukic amongst Fulham’s ex-Arsenal contingent,” chuckles Mammillaria Hahniana. “Respect.” He just goes on and on. Continue reading...

Head coach Gerardo Martino has stepped down from his role with MLS club Inter Miami "due to personal reasons", the club confirms.

Raúl Jiménez’s controversial penalty clinched Fulham the win at the City Ground and halted Nottingham Forest’s unbeaten Premier League start. The Mexican converted his 50th goal in the English top flight early in the second half after a lengthy video assistant referee check. Forest had won two and drawn three of their previous five matches and their highest crowd in over a decade – 30,139 – was denied a first home league win since April. And Forest’s fans were left frustrated as a second VAR decision went against them and Fulham – now unbeaten in their past five league games – had their measure. Continue reading...

Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino claimed the match against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium "lacked a good referee" after a heated contest resulted in a 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium Saturday.

Newcastle could not take their chance. Three points would have maintained the unbeaten start to the season, taken them to the top of the table for the evening, raised their growing optimism. Instead they were made to rue a poor first-half display against a delightful Fulham frontline, goals from Raúl Jiménez, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson securing a fine if not flawless victory. They never found their rhythm even if they set up a game for the second half, Harvey Barnes’s goal in the first minute after the restart making it 2-1 and setting up a tantalising passage. For the hosts, the worry was obvious: they had blown a lead last week against West Ham through a late Danny Ings equaliser; would this be more of the same? But they clung on through Nelson’s goal in stoppage time, the substitute gifted an easy opportunity in the box after a wayward pass from Bruno Gumiarães. Continue reading...

Inter Miami CF head coach Gerardo Martino confirmed Lionel Messi will be available for the matches against Atlanta United on Wednesday and New York City FC on Saturday, but his level of participation remains to be determined.

It is just as well that West Ham did not let Danny Ings leave last summer. With Niclas Füllkrug injured and Michail Antonio an increasingly blunt instrument up front, Julen Lopetegui was indebted to a late intervention from a player who still has the knack of finding that crucial yard of space in the opposition’s penalty area. Fulham had led from the 24th minute after Raúl Jiménez finished off a fine move. A third defeat in four league matches was on the cards for West Ham and pertinent questions were about to be raised about the depiction of Lopetegui as one of the game’s great entertainers. His team had been awful for much of the afternoon and it seemed they were going to leave Craven Cottage empty-handed until Ings, who has struggled since moving to east London 18 months ago, popped up with an unlikely equaliser in the 95th minute. Continue reading...

League Two’s Barrow knock out Derby on penaltiesPremier League’s Leicester and Fulham progress Newly promoted Premier League side Leicester progressed to the third round of the Carabao Cup with comfort as they beat fourth-tier Tranmere 4-0 thanks to goals from Jordan Ayew, Stephy Mavididi, Wilfred Ndidi and Harry Winks. Meanwhile, a Raúl Jiménez penalty and Jay Stansfield’s goal against his former club inside the opening 14 minutes earned Fulham a 2-0 win at Birmingham. The biggest shock of the night came at Barrow, where the League Two side beat Championship Derby 3-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. The goalkeeper Paul Farman saved Craig Forsyth’s spot-kick to send the club into the third round for the first time in 56 years. Continue reading...

A lack of domestic ambition and the federation’s insular culture has caught up with the national teamSign up to Jonathan’s weekly newsletter here Mexico were knocked out of Copa América on Sunday without reaching the knockout rounds. An anemic 0-0 showing against Ecuador brought their run to an end. Or maybe it was a crawl. The result followed a 1-0 defeat to Venezuela and a slim 1-0 win over Jamaica. The performance on Sunday was a bitter reminder of Mexico’s lethargic showing at the 2022 World Cup, where they were also eliminated at the group stage. But this summer’s exit was made all the worse because it’s the first time El Tri have returned to the South American tournament since 2016. If this was supposed to be a reset, a chance to prove Mexican soccer was in a stronger place than the showing in Qatar, it failed. Continue reading...

El Tri stumbled to an early Copa America exit on Sunday after a 0-0 draw with Ecuador, meaning Mexican soccer is, once again, in crisis.

El Tri knocked out at group stage on goal differenceVenezuela win group and will play Canada in last eight Ecuador secured a place in the Copa América quarter-finals on Sunday after grinding out a 0-0 draw with Mexico, who bowed out of the tournament after they finished third in Group B. Ecuador, who will play world champions Argentina in the quarter-finals, finished level with Mexico on four points but progress to the last eight thanks to a superior goal difference. Continue reading...