Fulham wrapped up their pre-season with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal at the Cottage on Sunday.
Dani Parejo put the visitors ahead in the first half, before a late Aleksandar Mitrović strike meant it ended all square.
Marco Silva made just the sole change to the side that beat Estoril, with Neeskens Kebano starting on the wing in place of Harry Wilson, who was not involved.
João Palhinha and Andreas Pereira were both in the starting lineup and set to play in front of the fans at the Cottage for the first time, while Kevin Mbabu was named a substitute.
We came flying out the traps, with it taking just seconds before an attempt on goal. Andreas charged through midfield before unleashing a venomous left-footed strike, which was athletically headed away for a corner.
Mitrović made a clever darting run towards the near post before watching his header from that corner fire just over.
Marco’s men continued to apply early pressure, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid latching onto a misplaced Villarreal pass before sliding a low effort just wide.
There were strong appeals for a penalty a few minutes later, when Kebano appeared to be bundled over in the area. The referee, however, was quick to wave play on.
We created our biggest chance just before the half-hour mark. Kebano fizzed in an outstanding cross from the right, which was diverted towards goal by a Villarreal man after De Cordova-Reid applied pressure. Luckily for the visitors, goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli reacted quickly to get down and prevent the opener.
Despite our fairly dominant start, the away side went ahead on 34 minutes. José Luis Morales slid the ball across to Dani Parejo on the edge of the area, and he made no mistake, rifling the ball past Marek Rodák and into the top right corner.
We went in at the break behind, but there were still plenty of positives to take from the first half display.
The first chance of the second half went to Villarreal, and it was nearly Parejo again. His curling effort from far out kissed the top of the crossbar as it sailed just over.
Somehow we weren’t able to level the scoring on the 52-minute mark after some neat play. De Cordova-Reid sent a ball across the face of goal, before Mitro’s first time effort was smashed against the crossbar. Promising play from the lads.
After a somewhat quiet spell, De Cordova-Reid found himself with time and space after latching onto an excellent João Palhinha ball. Bobby was aiming to curl his shot into the top far corner, but put a little too much power on the effort, which flew over.
Marco made a couple of substitutions midway through the second half, with Kebano and Palhinha making way for youngsters Jay Stansfield and Luke Harris.
Villarreal almost grabbed a second, when substitute Nicolas Jackson found himself charging towards goal after a quick counter-attack. Thankfully, his shot was fluffed and rolled well wide.
Mbabu was also able to enjoy a run-out in front of the fans, entering the field with just over five minutes to play in place of Kenny Tete.
Having already created a number of good chances throughout, we managed to convert one with just four minutes left on the clock. Mbabu made an instant impact, finding our main man with an excellent cross, which was tucked home.
A solid performance in front of the fans and plenty of positives to take as we approach Liverpool.
