Fulham’s wildly gifted captain, Tom Cairney, capped off his tremendous campaign in fitting fashion by scoring the winner and putting in a man of the match performance against Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final to propel the Cottagers back to the Premier League.
Oozing class and elegance, the midfield maestro ran the show beautifully for Slavisa Jokanovic’s exciting side. Keeping things ticking over beautifully with his assuredness, confidence and execution in possession, he was the chief orchestrator of a large chunk of Fulham’s offensive phases. Whether playing line breaking passes into the feet of his attackers, astutely weighted through balls or partaking in elaborate link up play within close proximity to his colleagues, he gave Fulham so much impetus going forward.
He duly accompanied this with his purposeful movement, as he exploited gaps present in Villa’s defensive shape to great effect. He was especially effective when dropping deep to facilitate play when Fulham typically passed out from the back, however, using his spatial interpretation powers and awareness superbly.
Moreover, the way he carried the ball upfield with intent, in order to draw opponents out of their shape, and used his sublime ball control to avoid pressure before locating a teammate was also hugely impressive. Watching him adjust his body posture prior to receiving possession was another highlight, with him scanning his surroundings prior to inheriting the ball so he knew where his opponents and colleagues were, meaning he could therefore adjust his orientation accordingly.
His goal emphatically evidenced how well he positions his body, as he opened his body shape up beautifully so he could finish with ablomp with a superbly placed shot.
While his defensive efforts were manful, there could be no escaping his enthralling attacking exhibits. His delighted manager was justifiably full of praise for his charge in his post match comments, saying: “The last two years Cairney has been fantastic. The beginning of the season we had to find a solution for his knee problem, but when he came back he played like we remember last season.
“Today he was crucial, he’s captain of the team. He showed the quality and personality to bring the team to the Premier League, and he’s an important player for us.”
Now headed to the Premier League, Cairney will now focus his attentions on helping Fulham cement their status in the top flight next term. But before all that he’s looking forward to a well earned rest after a rigorous campaign in the fiercely competitive Championship.
While the Scotsman enjoys his deserved break, he’ll regularly reflect back with immense satisfaction and pride on his special performance that ensured Fulham’s return to the Premier League for the first time since 2014.
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