Fulham 1-0 Leeds ANALYSIS: Daniel Farke's worrying problem exposed — Mail 13/9/25

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Fulham 1-0 Leeds ANALYSIS: Daniel Farke's worrying problem exposed, how Marco Silva played a role in late victory - and the £35m Cottagers debutant who set tongues wagging

By AADAM PATEL

Fulham secured a dramatic victory over Leeds as Gabriel Gudmundsson's stoppage-time own goal gifted the hosts all three points.

A drab affair at Craven Cottage looked to be petering out into a draw before Gudmundsson inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net in the 94th minute.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke admitted it was a 'heartbreaking ending' to the match as Marco Silva's side stole the win.

Daily Mail Sport's AADAM PATEL picks out the main talking points from the clash in west London.

Fulham's subs make an impact

The 17 goals scored by Fulham’s substitutes last season was the most ever by a Premier League side, with almost a third of their goals coming off the bench.

When Marco Silva rolled the dice first, turning to Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore off the bench, it felt as if Fulham’s quality would make the difference. That looked more likely after new signing Kevin came on in the 76th minute for his debut and instantly showed a different level of class. Fulham’s substitutes failed to get on the scoresheet this time around but they were a better side after and the pressure eventually told. Kevin’s long-range effort resulted in a corner and from the set-piece, Gabriel Gudmundsson inexplicably headed into his own net. ‘Our tempo was different in the second half,’ said Silva. ‘Kevin and the others made a massive impact.’

With Joel Piroe injured and Lukas Nmecha on the bench, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was given his first start for Leeds. He showed glimpses of why he could have such a big part to play in Leeds’ bid to stay up but those moments were few and far in between, with a header straight at Bernd Leno and another header down to tee up Sean Longstaff, who struck the crossbar.

Either side of Calvert-Lewin, Daniel Farke opted to start Brenden Aaronson and Noah Okafor ahead of Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto, and both put in impressive shifts but yet again, Leeds failed to score. It’s early doors but their lack of killer edge in the final third is seriously worrying. Across 360 minutes of Premier League football, they’ve scored once and it came from the spot. It’s the fewest they’ve scored after four games of a league campaign in their history.

Wilson shows Leeds what they're missing

There were a few boos from the Fulham fans at half-time and it was easy to see why. Their xG in the opening 45 minutes was zero. Leeds deserved credit for making it hard for the home side to break through but Marco Silva’s side simply failed to ask enough questions initially. For Karl Darlow, making his first Premier League appearance in almost four years, he could hardly have asked for a more comfortable return to the top-flight. It took just under an hour for the home side to test Darlow and he made a brilliant stop to keep out Harry Wilson’s free-kick. Wilson was close to moving to Leeds on deadline day before Fulham pulled out of the deal and despite a relatively quiet display, that effort was an example of the quality that Leeds are dying out for.

The first glimpse of Kevin certainly got tongues wagging among the Craven Cottage faithful. In his 15-minute cameo, the club record signing, who arrived for £34.6m from Shakhtar on deadline day, looked lively down the left flank and nearly got the winner as he forced a brilliant save from Darlow with a superb right-footed strike. ‘In this type of game, you need something with a different profile and Kevin has that. It’s not easy to find. The profile of a player like Kevin can boost the crowd,’ said Silva, who revealed that the 22-year-old winger only met most of his teammates for the first time on Friday.

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