The new third kit had a debut to forget down on the banks of the Thames, as Rovers succumbed to back-to-back defeats, following a 2-0 loss at the hands of recently-relegated Fulham, which saw former fan favourite Tom Cairney come back to bite the hand that used to feed him.
The Rovers team that walked out onto the hallowed Craven Cottage turf saw a trio of changes to the side that suffered defeat at home to Charlton Athletic on the opening day, as Derrick Williams, Tosin Adarabioyo and Joe Rothwell came in for Charlie Mulgrew (who left to Wigan Athletic on loan), Darragh Lenihan who is out due to a knee injury and Stewart Downing, with the winger on the bench.
After the pre-match handshake was complete, Rovers won the coin toss and kicked off the game with their vociferous 1,578 fans behind the goal, in an less than full Craven Cottage, due to development work going on around the ground.
The game started brightly for Rovers, as Adam Armstrong shook the Fulham defence with his pace, after 20 seconds, before sending in an inviting cross which was met by Bradley Johnson, who was unable to keep his nod on target.
Rovers remained in possession of the ball following the restart, as they adapted well into the game at its early stages in order to grant Bradley Dack an opportunity on his 250th career appearance. The playmaker picked the ball up from around 25-yards, before seeing his effort deflect behind for a corner that Fulham managed to confidently clear.
Rovers were handed their first defensive test on the 12th minute, as Anthony Knockaert stormed down the right-hand side before fizzing in a low cross, which debutant Tosin Adarabioyo managed to clear, before Stefan Johansen had the opportunity to try his luck from close-range.
From this clearance, Rovers got back on top, as they hit Fulham on the break. After some pacey attacking football, the ball eventually fell to the path of Johnson, who again tried his luck from the edge of the area, but again saw his effort blocked behind for a corner, which Fulham did well to clear.
After 20 minutes, Aleksandar Mitrović nearly gifted Rovers a goal, as the Fulham forward sliced at the incoming Rovers free-kick. A deep set-piece by Elliott Bennett saw it miss Sam Gallagher, before bouncing in-front of Mitrović who swung wildly at the ball, as it ricocheted over the bar and behind for a corner, which again, Fulham dealt with.
The 25th minute came, and so did a couple of Fulham chances, as Mitrović fired wide from close range, before Knockaert fired wide, after cutting in from the right-hand side and pulling the trigger on his left-foot.
The 34th minute came, and so did the breaking of the deadlock, as former Rover, Tom Cairney showed the away crowd what they were missing, as he lasered in a shot into the top corner of the goal, leaving Christian Walton stranded, due to the sheer quality of the strike. The Fulham skipper wasn’t closed down quick enough, which gave him the time to shift the ball onto his left-foot and curl the ball away from Walton and into the top right corner to put Fulham 1-0 up.
As half-time approached, Rovers tried to get back into the game before the whistle stopped their momentum. Bennett whipped in an inviting cross towards Gallagher who was able to shake off his marker and connect with the ball. Unluckily for the Rovers centre-forward, he was unable to angle his nod on target, as Fulham were awarded a goal-kick.
Gallagher’s header proved to be the final notable chance of the half, as after 2 minutes of added time were played, referee Keith Stroud called time on an indifferent first-half, from a Blues perspective.
With Rovers ending the first period on a positive, the Rovers manager, Tony Mowbray would have been relatively pleased with what he had seen from his side, in terms of attacking play, despite Rovers having conceded what could be classed as a ‘goal of Premier League quality.’
Scott Parker, contrastingly, would probably be thinking how his side weren’t 2-0 up, given the good number of chances they had crafted in the first-half. Despite the former midfielder’s early season issues, with their 1-0 defeat away at Barnsley on the opening day, Parker would be pleased that his side were able to get back on track, in-front of their home crowd but would also be warning his side about remaining defensively solid.
Following the 15-minute break, the game was restarted by the home side, who were hoping to potentially kill the game off, using their added quality.
The game fizzled out until the 53rd minute, where Adam Armstrong burst down the left-hand side, before cutting in and firing narrowly wide of the bottom right-hand corner.
3 minutes after Armstrong’s miss, Fulham nearly made it 2-0 with a couple of consecutive chances. Ivan Cavaleiro managed to get past Christian Walton but saw his shot well-blocked by Bennett. The ball soon bounced out to Harry Arter who saw his strike fly wide of the mark.
The 59th minute saw Bradley Dack have a free-kick from 20-yards out, but his effort was lacklustre as it hit the wall.
As the hour mark hit the clock, Bradley Johnson received a yellow card after hacking down Stefan Johansen on halfway.
The Norwegian central midfielder Johansen was soon withdrawn, and replaced by Bobby Decordova-Reid, who was a deadline day loan signing from Cardiff City.
Rovers soon responded with a change of their own on the 64th minute, as Joe Rothwell departed and was replaced by Ben Brereton.
3 minutes after Rovers’ change, Anthony Knockaert tried his luck once again, but saw his effort clear the crossbar and go behind for a goal-kick.
Tony Mowbray soon executed his final changes, as Amari’i Bell and Lewis Travis departed, with Stewart Downing and Danny Graham, respectively, taking their places.
The 76th minute saw Rovers’ best chance of the second period go begging, as Sam Gallagher failed to find the target. Elliott Bennett hit a deep cross that Gallagher met, however the 6’4” forward’s nod down edged past the post and behind for a goal-kick.
A few minutes after Gallagher’s chance, Scott Parker made his second change of the afternoon as former Rovers loanee, Harrison Reed made his way onto the field, replacing Ivan Cavaleiro.
The change seemed to spark some Fulham back into life, as they managed to kill the game off at 2-0, on the 81st minute. Joe Bryan burst down the left-hand side, evading numerous Rovers challenges, before cutting the ball back for Aleksandar Mitrović to tap home and secure the victory for the recently relegated side.
On the 84th minute, Fulham made their final change in an effort to kill the game off, with Anthony Knockaert making way for defender, Maxime Le Marchand.
The 85th minute saw Elliott Bennett booked after a tough tackle on Mitrović, whilst the final notable act of the game saw Bobby Decordova-Reid miss the target from close-range, saving Rovers from more defensive heartbreak.
Following 5 minutes of added time, which saw Rovers amount to nothing in an attacking manner, Keith Stroud ended the tie which left Rovers and their faithful following in disappointment, after what was an average performance, against a good side.
Despite Fulham being favourites to walk away with the league title by many fans, bookmakers and pundits, Rovers did have their chances to equalise at 1-1, but failed to capitalise with the venom that the forward line is capable of. After letting club captain, Charlie Mulgrew, leave the side on loan to Wigan Athletic, there was hope amongst the Rovers faithful that the defensive area of the team would be improved, however with Rovers again shipping 2 goals, albeit with a different centre-back partnership in Tosin Adarabioyo and Derrick Williams, there are causes for concern for Tony Mowbray, despite the strength within the Fulham ranks.
Whilst Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan and Greg Cunningham all missed out on the game, due to injury and for the Irish full-back, lack of training, there is scope for the defensive woes to improve, as training and familiarity between the players and the various tactical systems continues.
Although the defence was an issue for a majority of last season, the lack of goals in this campaign, may potentially begin to be a worry for some fans, especially after the £5m signing of Sam Gallagher from Southampton, however with the season still in its infancy, there is no need to panic, with 44 games still left to play.
This result disappointingly leaves Rovers rooted to the bottom of the table, after picking up 0 points from their opening couple of games.
Moving on, Rovers have a chance to right their wrongs and build confidence with a seemingly easier fixture against Oldham Athletic, in the Carabao Cup first round, on Tuesday 13th August at 7:45pm. After that game, Rovers host Middlesbrough at Ewood Park on Saturday 17th August at 3pm, before a short trip to Yorkshire is on the cards, as Tony Mowbray’s men travel to Hull City on Tuesday 20th August, live on Sky Sports’ red button, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm.
