Fulham snatch point in eight-goal thriller

Wolves 4 Fulham 4


Floyd Ayite scored deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for Fulham after a remarkable game at Molineux.

The Whites had been 3-1 up at the break, including a stunning strike from Tom Cairney, but looked like coming away empty-handed when they conceded three second-half goals, including a 90th-minute David Edwards finish.

But Ayite, who had opened his Fulham account with a header in the first half, nodded in from Scott Malone’s delivery in a frantic finish.

Wolves had gone ahead midway through the first half as Helder Costa picked out Kourtney Hause from a corner and the centre-back’s downward header beat David Button.

But two assists from Ryan Fredericks turned the game around, as he laid on the equaliser for Stefan Johansen and later delivered a cross for Ayite to head in and put the Whites in front.

Shortly before half-time, Johansen teed up Cairney with a free-kick and the midfielder struck a terrific left-footed volley from 25 yards out beyond Wolves’ teenage goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne.

They would have stretched that lead in the second half but for 19-year-old Burgoyne, who on his full debut made an excellent double save, first denying Cairney and then Sone Aluko.

That was to prove crucial as Fulham’s advantage was wiped out in the space of 10 minutes.

First, full-back Matt Doherty pulled one back after Conor Coady’s cross was flicked-on by Nouha Dicko and then Ivan Cavaleiro drilled home the equaliser.

As the game ticked into injury-time, Edwards thought he had won it when he thrashed in from an acute angle, but Ayite popped up to level a few minutes later to earn Fulham a share of the points.

Fulham: Button; Fredericks, Ream, Kalas, Malone; McDonald, Johansen; Aluko (Parker 71), Cairney, Ayite; Martin.
Subs not used: Bettinelli, Odoi, Sigurdsson, Sessegnon, Kebano, Piazon.