Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi scored the winner as Fulham secured a 2-1 win at the Craven Cottage against Leicester City to earn their first three points of the season on Saturday.
Emile Smith Rowe opened his Premier League account for the Cottagers with a placed finish in the 18th minute to score on his home debut for Fulham.
However, Fulham’s bright start was undone when a misplaced pass by Calvin Bassey put his side under pressure before Leicester equalised from the subsequent corner in the 38th minute.
Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte delivered a wonderfully curled inswinging corner which met the head of defender Faes, who powered his effort into the bottom left-hand corner to make it 1-1.
The goal was originally ruled out for offside but referee Darren Bond was sent to the monitor and deemed Jamie Vardy to have not interfered with Bernd Leno’s efforts to make a save.
After the interval, Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s homecoming was met with applause from Fulham fans as Foxes manager Steve Cooper substituted the winger.
The Jamaica international ended his five-season stay at Craven Cottage when he moved to Leicester earlier in the summer on a free transfer.
Despite losing their lead when Leicester’s Wout Faes equalised with a header, Fulham bounced back from last week’s late defeat at Manchester United.
Read also: Iwobi delighted to break Mikel Obi’s Premier League record
The Cottagers found their groove early on through Adama Traore, who pulled the strings on the right.
Traore forced goalkeeper Mads Hermansen into action with a driven shot with his left foot towards the bottom right corner before he created another chance with a deft reversed pass moments later.
Traore’s first season in west London was marred through injury but he is now fit and looked eager to impress manager Marco Silva, with the early signs suggesting he is an adequate replacement for the departed Willian.
His quality start to the match continued when he was instrumental in Fulham’s opening goal.
Traore drifted into the midfield where he skipped past two players before slipping through Smith Rowe.
The attacking midfielder showed composure in a one-v-one scenario, placing his effort into the corner to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
