Johansen’s goal puts Fulham second

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Fulham 1 Reading 0


Stefan Johansen’s goal moved Fulham above Cardiff into second place and assured them of at least a play-off spot with four games left.

The midfielder finished off a clever cross from Matt Targett on 25 minutes as the Whites extended their club-record unbeaten run to 20 games.

Reading finished with 10 men after Leandro Bacuna was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for an abysmal challenge on Ryan Sessegnon, which sparked two fans to invade thr pitch.

The visitors had bossed the opening moments and Tim Ream had to clear a Jon Dadi Bodvarsson effort off the line before Aleksandar Mitrovic went close with two headers – one saved, one wide – after the breakthrough.

The in-form Newcastle loanee hit the post in the second half from an offside position before setting up Johansen for the first of two good chances to find a second goal.

But the Norwegian’s eighth of the season was enough to move Fulham into the automatic promotion places after Cardiff, who still have a game in hand, lost at Aston Villa.

Fulham (4-3-3): Bettinielli; Fredericks, Odoi, Ream, Targett; McDonald, Johansen (Norwood 89), Cairney; Piazon (Kebano 79), Mitrovic, Sessegnon
Subs not used: Button, Kalas, Christie, Kamara, Fonte