EFL Championship: Fulham promoted with 1-0 win over Villa in playoff final
By Orri Benatar
The Cottagers are finally back in the Premier League. Fulham’s simple and effective win over Aston Villa means a trip to the top flight.
Football is an amazing thing. It is stunning how one goal from a 27-year old Scotsman could earn a team over $125 million for next season. Tom Cairney scored the lone goal of the playoff final at Wembley early in the first half and it proved to be the one to take Fulham back into the Premier League.
Aston Villa created most of the chances in the second half after Fulham’s Denis Odoi was sent off in the 70th minute. Villa pressured constantly with the man advantage, but couldn’t get a clear shot at Marcus Bettinelli’s goal. Slavisa Jokanovic will manage Fulham for their first Premier League season since 2013-14.
Tom Cairney has now scored more goals (24) for Fulham under Slavisa Jokanovic than any player.
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) May 26, 2018
The team scoring 1st has won 21 of the 27 play-off finals in the 2nd tier (in which a goal has been scored) pic.twitter.com/zMhqLzGNv7
Fulham must keep their stars
We saw in this past Premier League season that keeping a Championship core can bring you a successful season. Brighton, Huddersfield, and Newcastle all stayed up and kept the members of the squad that got them to the top flight.
Fulham, Wolves, and Cardiff should do the same if they are to stay up next season. Luckily for Fulham, they already have a bit of an advantage over the other promoted teams.
Their frontline of Ryan Sessegnon, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Aboubakar Kamara have more than enough talent for a Premier League season. Mitrovic has been there before with Newcastle while the French winger Kamara has Ligue 1 experience.
The X-factor is Ryan Sessegnon. He was undoubtedly the player of the year in the Championship and his ceiling as a footballer is very high. He is a high-attacking, smart-defending left-winger, who can play up front or in defense. Now that Fulham has clinched promotion, he won’t need to move to a new club. Expect some great things from this 18-year old.
The field is set
Your 2018-19 #PremierLeague field
— The Top Flight (@TheTopFlightFS) May 26, 2018
Man City, Man United, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Burnley, Everton, Leicester, Newcastle, Palace, Bournemouth, West Ham, Watford, Brighton, Huddersfield, Southampton, Wolves, Cardiff, and Fulham.
Fulham’s win means the full Premier League field for 2018-19 is set in stone. Fulham, Wolves, and Cardiff will join the top 17 clubs from the past season. It’s nice to see a mixture of new and familiar faces in the Premier League now. With the previous promoted clubs all staying up, there is more room for those EPL upsets that make it the best league in the world.