WestBromwichAlbion

Mitrovic treble gives Fulham win over West Brom as both sides finish with 10

30-Oct-2021 13:36:46 | The Guardian

Aleksandar Mitrovic makes this Championship lark look easy. As the striker completed his hat-trick eight minutes from time, the adoring Hammersmith End saluted him in unison. Mitrovic is as close as it gets to a goal guarantee in the division and took his tally to 18 in 15 games as Fulham overcame West Brom, whose afternoon went from bad to worse when Darnell Furlong was sent off with 20 minutes left. The frightening thing for opposition defences is that there are still seven months of the season to play and, in this mood, Mitrovic seems unlikely to wind down any time soon.

The reality is Mitrovic only had four touches in the opposition box but made them count; two of those resulted in first-half goals that took the game away from West Brom, whose main threat stemmed from winning the aerial battle, and another sealed victory after Furlong was given a straight red card for fouling Harry Wilson. Fulham kept West Brom at arm’s length but the visitors threatened from set pieces. Marek Rodak made a smart stop to prevent Matt Clarke finding the net with a flying header from just inside the box, and Kyle Bartley twice went close.