Raúl Jiménez will turn 35 in May yet Fulham’s Mexican striker remains as vital to Marco Silva’s team as ever. It is now approaching six years since his career was placed in serious jeopardy by a skull fracture but Jiménez exhibited precious few signs of wear and tear as his latest two goals, a second-half header and a penalty, sunk Sunderland.
Although Enzo Le Fée’s penalty briefly reduced the deficit, Alex Iwobi’s deft chip rubber-stamped Fulham’s victory, leaving the home side to rue clearcut chances missed by Romaine Mundle and Nilson Angulo.
While Silva’s players ended a run of three successive Premier League defeats, Régis Le Bris’s side face their first real wobble since securing promotion. They have won only two of their past 11 league games amid a scoring drought from open play.
Their manager chose to address the latter problem by fielding a very attacking starting XI but the team’s balance did not seem quite right. “It’s a tough day,” Le Bris said.
“We couldn’t find the right way to express our quality. We got too sloppy to impose our ideas. It was a tight game but we weren’t good enough. We have to find solutions rather than searching for excuses. We have to show our character.”
Part of the problem was that – with Le Bris’s two January signings, Jocelin and Angulo, serving as touchline‑hugging wingers – Fulham were able to identify gaps in central midfield. Angulo, an Ecuador international, was signed from Anderlecht, while the Ivorian Jocelin arrived from Maccabi Netanya where, intriguingly, he had failed to make a single first‑team appearance and spent most of his two years on loan in Israel’s second tier.
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Wolves and Sunderland condemn online racist abuse aimed at players
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Wolves and Sunderland have issued statements condemning online racist abuse aimed at their players. After Sunday’s match against Crystal Palace, Wolves issued a statement condemning racist abuse aimed at their Nigerian striker Tolu Arokodare on social media following the player’s penalty miss. On the club website, Wolves republished specific posts that included references to Arokodare as a monkey.
“Wolves are disgusted by numerous instances of racist abuse, from multiple perpetrators,” the statement read. “There is no place for racism – in football, online, or anywhere in society. We condemn this abhorrent and unlawful behaviour in the strongest possible terms.
“Tolu has our full and unwavering support. No player should be subjected to such hatred simply for doing their job. We stand firmly alongside him, and alongside all footballers who are forced to endure this abuse from anonymous accounts acting with apparent impunity.” The club added that it has “reported the posts to the relevant platforms”.
Arokodare later posted on X: “It’s still unbelievable to me that we’re playing in a time where people have so much freedom to communicate such racism without any consequences.”
Sunderland said they were working with authorities to identify those responsible for “vile online racist abuse” directed at Romaine Mundle. “These individuals do not represent Sunderland AFC, our values, or our community – and they are not welcome on Wearside,” their statement continued.
Kick It Out summed up “an appalling weekend” of abuse, following similar posts that had been aimed at Wesley Fofana and Hannibal Mejbri. On X, it posted: “Action must follow. Players cannot be expected to tolerate this behaviour, and nor should anyone else. Guardian sport
Here both wingers alternated between moments of real menace and potentially self‑destructive naivety, but Jocelin’s Premier League debut ended after 39 minutes when injury forced his replacement by Mundle.
With the influential Nordi Mukiele having earlier limped off with calf trouble to be replaced by Lutsharel Geertruida at right‑back, Sunderland were destabilised slightly and, not for the first time, relied on the defensive nous of Dan Ballard and Trai Hume – the latter impressing out of position at left‑back – to contain a sometimes less than urgent Fulham.
At this stage Silva’s technical‑area body language suggested an increasing exasperation. It turned, temporarily, to something nearer despair as Oscar Bobb, on for the injured Kevin, lost possession and allowed Habib Diarra to break before shooting wastefully over the bar. The midfielder was not alone; Angulo treated an even better chance the same way.
Those misses represented rare clearcut openings in a game where the goalkeepers, Robin Roefs and Fulham’s Bernd Leno, were initially underworked and Sunderland’s lone striker Brian Brobbey found himself frequently isolated. Jiménez, too, endured a deceptively quiet first half during which he collected one yellow card and appeared slightly fortunate to escape a second.
But he should not, as Sunderland discovered to their cost, ever be left unattended. Their failure to mark the Mexican properly from Iwobi’s corner resulted in Jiménez heading Fulham into a 55th‑minute lead.
Moments earlier Mundle had missed a glorious chance, curling his shot wide after being put through by Geertruida’s fine, defence-bisecting pass, but it did not take Jiménez long to score a second: when Brobbey tugged Calvin Bassey’s shirt, a video assistant review was prompted and, after the referee, Craig Pawson, had visited the pitchside monitor, he duly pointed to the spot after all. Silva’s attacking talisman stepped forward and sent Roefs the wrong way.
“For the price we paid Raúl has done very, very well indeed,” said Fulham’s manager, who said his club had paid less than the widely reported £5.5m for Jiménez in July 2023.
Jiménez’s 11th goal of the season prefaced Le Bris reintroducing his inspirational captain, Granit Xhaka from the bench after an ankle injury.
Sunderland swiftly won a penalty when Ryan Sessegnon felled Ballard and with Leno confounded by a 12‑yard kick from the ever incisive Le Fée the contest briefly reignited. Not that it took long for Sunderland’s resistance to be broken by Harry Wilson’s splendid counter-attacking pass and Iwobi’s superlative chip over the advancing Roefs.
As the home fans fell eerily silent, a suddenly smiling Silva could barely stop applauding his players. “It was a big win, a very important win and a well-deserved win,” he said.
“We showed quality, maturity, composure, organisation and bravery. This was a key game and, in the big moments, we stepped up.”
