Fulham Survive Wycombe Scare After Dramatic Shootout
It was a night of relief rather than celebration for Fulham, as Marco Silva’s side narrowly escaped an embarrassing Carabao Cup exit against League One’s Wycombe Wanderers. The Premier League outfit eventually booked their spot in the quarter-finals, but it took a dramatic penalty shootout — and a heroic performance from goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte — to get there.
Now, imagine this: a struggling Premier League team, low on confidence after four straight defeats, traveling to face an energetic lower-league opponent smelling an upset. That was exactly the setting at Adams Park. Fulham arrived knowing they needed a win — not just to progress in the cup, but to restore some morale after a difficult run that had seen them slip dangerously close to the relegation zone.
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But instead of asserting their top-flight authority, Fulham found themselves dragged into a real battle. Wycombe, playing with heart and hunger, made life difficult from the very start. Every challenge, every loose ball was contested fiercely. You could sense the home crowd growing in belief as the minutes ticked by. It wasn’t just about survival for them — it was about making a statement.
By full-time, the match was deadlocked, and you could see the tension rising in both camps. Penalties loomed, and suddenly, this routine cup tie turned into a test of nerve. That’s when Fulham’s French goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte stepped up and became the unlikely hero of the night.
Lecomte pulled off three stunning saves in the shootout, denying Wycombe’s Ewan Henderson first and then stopping two more to break the hosts’ resistance. Each save seemed to lift the weight off Fulham’s shoulders just a little more. When the final kick was converted, there was a mix of relief and exhaustion rather than joy on the Fulham bench. They knew they had scraped through — but only just.
For Wycombe, it was heartbreak. They had pushed a Premier League side all the way, matching them for grit and determination. On another night, the result might have gone their way. Their effort was undeniable, and the applause from the crowd as the players left the pitch told the story — they might have lost, but their pride was intact.
For Marco Silva, though, this narrow escape may do little to silence growing concerns about his team’s form. Winning on penalties against lower-league opposition isn’t the confidence boost he would have hoped for. But in football, sometimes a hard-fought victory like this can be the spark that reignites a struggling team.
So, while Fulham’s name will be in the draw for the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, the real question now is — can this scrappy win become the turning point in their season? Only time will tell.
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