Fulham secured a 3-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup second round on Thursday, with first-half goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Rodrigo Muniz, and a late strike from Gonzalo García, handing new head coach Álvaro Arbeloa his first competitive win. The match, played on a muggy riverside evening, marked the first meeting between the clubs since 2001, before the original Wimbledon franchise relocated to Milton Keynes and a phoenix club emerged.
Goals in the first half put Fulham in control
Smith Rowe scored from close range after James Tilley could only direct a header into danger, with the celebration minimal. Muniz then headed in Kenny Tete's cross, celebrating rapturously as it was his first goal since the opening game of last season. Before the breakthrough, Muniz had missed a chance by ballooning a Smith Rowe flick into the Putney End, while Smith Rowe himself had missed a pearling opportunity, furious with himself.
Fulham made 10 changes from Monday's home defeat by Chelsea, with only Oscar Bobb retaining his place. Shea Charles made his first start for the club, while Luc de Fougerolles, who played in the summer's World Cup for Canada, made only his second Fulham appearance. Ryan Sessegnon started for Fulham, while his brother Steven, formerly of Fulham, played for Wimbledon.
Wimbledon's set-piece threat and Fulham's youth experiment
Wimbledon, maintaining their Crazy Gang traditions, were most dangerous from set pieces. When De Fougerolles could only head away a corner, the ball fell to Dons' skipper Alistair Smith, but his shot was straight at Benjamin Lecomte. Wimbledon's policy was to keep the contest physical and direct, with Callum Maycock coming close had he better directed Myles Hippolyte's arrowing cross.
Arbeloa's appointment was accompanied by heralding of his youth development work at Real Madrid, a different approach from predecessor Marco Silva's preference for hard-bitten pros. Bobb was rested from half-time as 18-year-old Macaulay Zepa arrived, speedy and direct in his running, full of promise. The arrivals of Gonzalo García and César Palacios, the young Madrileños who accompanied Arbeloa to west London, supplied further excitement, with García scoring deftly in injury-time.
Defensive solidity and a setback
In defence, Fulham's youth and experience combination of De Fougerolles and Joachim Andersen remained assured, with Calvin Bassey replacing the senior partner on the hour. However, the youngster did not last much longer, pulling up after a block tackle and taken down the tunnel.
Zepa, with fellow youth graduate Chibby Nwoko now in midfield, continued his impressive debut, giving Wimbledon's Sessegnon quite the chasing. Muniz's swelling confidence was evidenced by some acrobatics, while Hippolyte, Wimbledon's 2025 play-off hero, also attempted the spectacular from long range.
West Ham await this new Fulham in the next round, as do Sunderland on Sunday in the league. The comfortable progress to the third round supplied a number of reasons for optimism in the new regime, with Smith Rowe and Muniz getting a better tune than Silva managed last season, and teenage talent handed a chance to shine.
