Fulham survived an almighty scare after falling behind to League One Wycombe before rescuing a 1-1 draw and finally edging out their hosts on penalties to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Benjamin Lecomte was the hero for the Premier League side in only his third game for the club as the goalkeeper saved three penalties in the shoot-out, before Issa Diop sealed their place in the next round with a powerful effort.
A stellar Wycombe showing against a team ranked 44 places above them in the football pyramid ended on a sour note after an assistant referee appeared to be hit by a bottle thrown from the crowd moments after Diop’s winning spot kick.
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Fulham progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after a penalty shootout scare against Wycombe Wanderers that saw five penalties saved.
Wycombe said in a statement they “strongly condemned” the incident and were already working to identify the culprit, while head coach Michael Duff added: “Referees and linesmen are human beings, if they’ve made mistakes which I don’t know if they have, no one deserves that.
“I’m sure the club will find the culprit and ban them, and rightly so. This is a community club and there’s no place for that in any part of football.”
Lecomte’s evening had not begun as well as it ended when he was beaten for the first time in his Fulham career inside four minutes, when former Cottagers forward Cauley Woodrow’s powerful early effort caught the goalkeeper out at his near post to raise hopes of an upset.
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Cauley Woodrow opens the scoring for Wycombe with a sublime strike from outside the area to score against his former club Fulham.
That was the only chance Wycombe would have all half but as they instead invited Fulham to break down their low block, their lofty visitors became increasingly frustrated and forced Will Norris into a single save of note from Raul Jimenez’s flicked header.
Wycombe could have doubled their lead moments into the second period when Mullins flashed an effort wide a minute after the restart – but soon Fulham’s pressure did tell from a moment of magic from teenager Josh King.
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Josh King converts Kevin’s corner with a clever flick to level the scoring for Fulham against Wycombe in the Carabao Cup.
He displayed his Premier League flair with a backheel raised flick to level from Kevin’s corner three minutes into the second half, as Fulham threatened to finally raise their game.
That would fail to fully materialise with no means of finding a way through their hosts’ stubborn approach, despite the introduction of Alex Iwobi, Ryan Sessegnon and Sasa Lukic.
The hosts did need the quick thinking of Anders Hagelskjaer to deny Iwobi on the line in added time as Fulham tried in vain to avoid the lottery of penalties, but otherwise saw out the rest of the 90 minutes in relative comfort.
Benjamin Lecomte was Fulham’s hero in their Carabao Cup fourth-round shootout win at Wycombe
Once in the shoot-out however, Wycombe found themselves immediately on the back foot when Ewan Henderson was denied by Lecomte from their first penalty.
After nine perfect spot kicks from either side, Ryan Sessegnon had the chance to seal Fulham’s progression but a fine Norris stop sent the shoot-out to sudden death, where Fred Onyedinma, Jonah Kusi-Asare and Donnell McNeilly all saw consecutive penalties saved – before Diop stepped up to send the Cottagers through by the skin of their teeth.
Duff: That’s how to lose a game
Wycombe manager Michael Duff:
“If you’re going to lose the game, that’s how to lose it. We’ve given a brilliant account of ourselves. For all their play they’ve had one off the line and we’ve conceded from a corner.
“I thought we were really good, diligent – when I first came in, people said we couldn’t defend but they’ve done everything I’ve asked. It was a flip of a coin in the end. A little bit frustrated, but proud as punch too.”
Silva: We took game seriously but lacked intensity
Fulham head coach Marco Silva:
“Of course, we knew our obligation was to be in the next round even though it’s not a word that should be in football because we know surprises happen in this competition if your approach is not serious enough.
“We were serious, but when you come off some bad results, you have to be positive and confident, but you feel something around and the first minutes of the game showed that. It was their only shot on target they had, and it was a goal we should’ve defended better.
“We didn’t play with the intensity we should have in the first half but we did after that, and we created seven or eight clear chances. I told the players, in these types of moments, we are the first ones who have to be positive.
“We know the picture in our club, in our dressing room. We know the future is going to be better when we have players back, but we have to fight for this moment altogether.”
