Fulham reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Cambridge United at a barely half-full Craven Cottage, Emile Smith Rowe's 66th-minute finish sparing Marco Silva's much-changed side any embarrassment against their League Two visitors.
Silva made 11 changes from the team that beat Brentford at the weekend, handing a full debut to Kevin, the 22-year-old winger signed from Shakhtar Donetsk on transfer deadline day for a club-record £34.6million. For long stretches the gulf between the divisions was barely visible.
A Sterile Opening Frustrates the Hosts
Fulham enjoyed 82% possession in the opening 45 minutes but managed only two successful crosses from 11 attempts, and neither side put any of their four shots on target. Jorge Cuenca's wild blast from 35 yards over the bar summed up the home side's attacking threat in the first 25 minutes, with Kevin's lightning-quick footwork and incisive runs the only persuasive evidence that this was a Premier League side against League Two opposition.