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NO GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace
55 min Yep, no goal: Chukwueze was half a yard ahead of the last defender when Smith Rowe played the ball to him.
Updated at 12.44 EST
VAR check for offside Chukwueze may have been off in the build up.
Emile Smith Rowe has put Fulham in front with his second goal in as many games. After good play initially from Smith Rowe, Chukwueze lifted a cross that was met on the run by Iwobi. His header hit the inside of the far post and Smith Rowe reacted smartly to get over the bouncing ball and finish with his left foot.
Updated at 12.44 EST
GOAL! Fulham 2-1 Crystal Palace (Smith Rowe 53)
Palace were having a good spell.
52 min Kamada moves easily away from Iwobi on the edge of the D but chokes his low shot. Palace are having a good spell.
49 min A decent chance at the other end. Kamada finds Pino, who threads an inviting pass through the inside-left channel for Mateta. He barrels away from Bassey but drags his shot wide of the far post.
48 min Fulham have started the second half on he front foot. Wilson finds the overlapping Tete, who chops inside Guehi and shoots wide from the angle.
47 min “As a Palace fan, this is a fun match in a fun season,” writes Max Williams. “And the FA Cup remains peak sport for me. But imagine how we’d be doing if we’d somehow kept Olise and Eze, two of the best attackers in the world harnessed by a visionary manager! Btw when do the Ashes start?”
Imagine the interplay between Munoz, Wharton and Olise on that side of the field. I can’t spake at the thought of it.
46 min Peep peep! Palace get the second half under way.
Half-time reading
ShareHalf time: Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace
A most enjoyable first half at Craven Cottage. Eddie Nketiah rifled Palace in front after great work from Adam Wharton; Harry Wilson equalised with one of the goals of the season.
45+2 min “Is it a purple patch?” asks Matt Dony. “Or is Wilson just becoming the natural successor to Gareth Bale? (Ok, yes, I know the answer. But indulge me. I’m not having a tremendous few weeks in sporting terms…).”
Updated at 12.18 EST
45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min That goal was Wilson’s sixth in seven games for club and country, I think.
42 min I’m still reeling from the audacity and brilliance of that Harry Wilson goal. Peak Messi couldn’t have done it better.
Updated at 12.13 EST
41 min “Could not agree more re: Wharton,” says Felix Wood. “His entire game seems to simply be passing it quickly to players in better positions. Sounds simple. It isn’t. I was hoping that England’s future was him and Mainoo together in centre mid, but I think that’s a discussion for another MBM. For this one though, I think Wharton’s development has been immeasurable helped by playing alongside the similarly understated and criminally underrated Will Hughes.”
What a goal! Fulham probed patiently, as always, until Iwobi fed a sharp pass into Wilson on the edge of the D. He slipped it round the corner to Jimenez, who played an instant return pass as Wilson span away from Lacroix.
Wilson let the ball run across his body, 16 yards from goal, and flicked a first-time shot with the outside of the left foot that swerved away from Henderson and into the far corner. That’s quite outrageous. The touch round the corner was brilliant, the finish even better.
Updated at 12.39 EST
GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Crystal Palace (Wilson 38)
Harry Wilson extends his purple patch with a majestic equaliser!
Fulham’s Harry Wilson scores their first goal. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersShare
Updated at 12.30 EST
36 min As the half has developed, Palace have been the more dangerous team. They’re having less of the ball but that has never bothered them.
34 min: Big chance for Clyne! Mitchell’s cross from the left beats everyone at the near post and bounces towards his fellow wing-back Clyne on the edge of the area. He misses his kick completely but gets a second chance when the ball lands kindly at his feet. His second attempt is well struck but blocked by Iwobi (I think).
31 min: Palace penalty appeal Clyne is caught right on the edge of the area, maybe just inside, by Andersen. The referee gives nothing and Team VAR decide not to get involved. Had a penalty been given on the field, I doubt it would have been overturned.
Updated at 12.03 EST
29 min Chukwueze’s low cross from the left pinballs around the Palace area. Eventually it reaches Iwobi, whose chest-volley from 15 yards is straight at Henderson.
28 min Fulham are passing the ball with their usual neatness and purpose, but Palace are so well organised defensively and at the moment Fulham are struggling to break them down.
25 min Adam Wharton doesn’t turn 22 until February. Given the maturity of his play, in such a pivotal position, the mind boggles at how good he could be by the age of 30.
Share24 min: Brilliant save by Henderson!
Berge’s ball infield is taken beautifully in his stride by Smith Rowe, who moves into the area and hits a rising drive with his left foot. Henderson reacts superbly, throwing out his right hand to tip the ball over the bar.
21 min Adam Wharton could play for any football team in the world. He’s a joy to watch.
Updated at 11.53 EST
Wharton started the move by waving an insouciant outside-of-the-foot pass to Mitchell on the left wing. He found Guehi, who pushed the ball back infield to Wharton. He arrowed a sharp pass into the area, intended I think for Kamada. It didn’t reach him because Nketiah controlled the ball on the run, wrongfooting Andersen in the process, and slapped it past Leno. Fine goal.
Updated at 11.55 EST
GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Crystal Palace (Nketiah 20)
A clinical finish from Eddie Nketiah puts Crystal Palace in front!
Crystal Palace’s Eddie Nketiah (second left) scores his side’s first goal. Photograph: John Walton/PAShare
Updated at 11.58 EST
19 min So, does anyone know when the Ashes gets under way?
Updated at 11.54 EST
17 min Pino slips a neat first-time pass down the side to Mateta, who shoots straight at Leno from the edge of the area. Tough chance but a nice bit of play from Pino, who looks a bargain at £26m.
16 min It’s an even, open game, with possession roughly 55:45 in Fulham’s favour.
12 min Wharton’s corner is headed out towards Pino on the Palace left. He knocks the bouncing ball past Jimenez, who think it’s still there to be won. Wrong! Instead of clearing the ball, he boots Pino straight in the face. VAR are happy that it was accidental, and they’re right, but it was still a fair old whack.
Updated at 11.44 EST
12 min Wharton, with eyes in the side of his head, plays a quality disguised pass out to the right wing-back Clyne, who wins Palace’s first corner.
Updated at 11.42 EST
11 min Another Iwobi corner leads to a bit of a scramble before Palace force the ball clear. Fulham are turning up the metaphorical heat.
9 min: Good effort by Smith Rowe Iwobi, on the left, curls a wicked inswinging corner that brushes a Palace head and flies over the bar for another corner.
This time it’s on the right. Iwobi clips it deliberately towards Smith Rowe, unmarked 10 yards out at the near post. He watches the bounce and twists his body to crack a shot that hits Guehi and flies over the bar. Lovely effort though, a variation on the old Anderton/Sheringham corner.
Updated at 11.40 EST
5 min Iwobi’s shot from 20 yards deflects wide, though it wouldn’t have counted because some fella was offside in the build-up, Wilson I think.
4 min Nothing to report. Not a single thing.
1 min And they’re off. Fulham are kicking from left to right as we watch.
The players stroll onto the field on a largely disgusting afternoon in west London: cold, wet, windy. Apart from that, it’s thong weather.
A win would lift Palace to fourth in the Premier League table, which looks like this as of 4.21pm on 7 December 2025.
Full time: Brighton 1-1 West Ham
Georginio Rutter’s injury-time equaliser earned Brighton a point after Jarrod Bowen had put West Ham ahead at the Amex Stadium. Daniel Harris has more.
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Ed Aarons
It should have been a night for Crystal Palace supporters to savour. About 1,500 officially made the trip to Strasbourg for their second away match of the Conference League group stage last week, although plenty more had gathered in the pretty Alsatian city famous for its expansive Christmas market.
Yet while most were enjoying being part of Palace’s first European campaign after May’s FA Cup win, “a tiny minority” – as the club’s statement the following day described them – had different ideas. Footage of bottles and chairs being thrown as two rival groups of supporters of the same club clashed before the game in one of the city’s squares went viral on X. “Palace fans fighting each other in Strasbourg,” read the message, not surprisingly sparking widespread confusion.
The Guardian understands it was the culmination of a long-running feud between the Holmesdale Fanatics (HF) – an ultras group known for their vocal support and homemade tifos – and a collection of Palace fans said to have become increasingly antagonistic towards them. They are believed to be the group heard singing pro-Tommy Robinson songs and spotted with “Stop the boats” flags during Palace’s trips to Lublin to play Dynamo Kyiv in October and Fredrikstad for a playoff a month earlier. The group are thought to be more loosely organised than the HF and come from several different areas, including the Croydon suburb of New Addington, Crawley and Kent.
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Both managers make two changes from their midweek games. Marco Silva brings in Timothy Castagne and Samuel Chukwueze for Ryan Sessegnon and Sasa Lukic.
Palace are without bullet train Daniel Munoz, who scored the winner at Burnley in midweek, due to a minor knee injury. Nathaniel Clyne replaces him and Eddie Nketiah comes in for Jefferson Lerma. In both cases that means a slight reshuffle, with Alex Iwobi and Daichi Kamada moving into deeper positions.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Castagne; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze; Jimenez.
Subs: Lecomte, Cairney, Traore, Cuenca, Kusi-Asare, Lukic, Kevin, King, Diop.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1) Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Clyne,
Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Nketiah, Pino; Mateta.
Subs: Matthews, Benitez, Lerma, Uche, Hughes, Esse, Canvot, Sosa, Devenny.
Referee Sam Barrott.
Updated at 10.55 EST
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Fulham v Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage. We can say without fear of contradiction that it won’t be as exciting as Fulham’s last home game, the madcap 5-4 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday. But it should be an engaging match between two excellently coached teams.
Fulham and Palace are separated by nine places and only six points, such is the congestion in the middle of the Premier League table. Despite the City defeat, Fulham have a pretty good home record: P7 W4 D1 L2, exactly the same as Palace’s record on the road. The contrast in styles – Fulham’s rhythmic possession versus Palace’s rapier counter-attacks – only adds to the appeal.
Kick off 4.30pm.