There were Fulham fans waving Israeli flags around Craven Cottage. You knew who they were here for. They wanted to see Manor Solomon, or “King Solomon” as some began to call him.
And boy did he deliver. For the third Premier League game in a row, the £6 million purchase of Shakhtar Donetsk was introduced as a substitute and scored, this time securing a point from a hard-fought match with Wolves.
It was an elegant curled effort that flew into the corner in the 64th minute that Fulham saved here. If ever a player deserves a reputation as a ‘super sub’ it’s Solomon, although he’s not where he wants to be on the bench.
The 23-year-old Israel international has not yet started a Premier League game for Fulham. He can’t do much more and manager Marco Silva will certainly reward him soon enough.
A point each felt reasonable in the end. There was little difference between these teams in the 90 minutes, with Pablo Sarabia’s clever finishing of a slick move giving Wolves the lead in the first half. That may have been the story on another night.
Manor Solomon (left) earned Fulham a point in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Wolves on Friday
The Israeli winger came on as a half-time substitute and changed the game for the hosts
His clever curling strike beat Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa in his third in three games
The signing of Pablo Sarabia (right) in January had opened the scoring for Wolves in the first period
Marco Silva’s side moved two points off fifth place, while Wolves moved four points clear of the relegation zone
But here Solomon made it more about him with yet another stellar performance as a replacement.
Twelve minutes later we had not seen a single shot. It was a slow start. So slowly that the Wolves fans resorted to making their own fun, after spotting Gary Neville in the Sky Sports studio to their left. They sang he was a so-and-so, and he danced to their tune.
In the 13th minute, Neville finally had something to analyze. Nelson Semedo showed nice footwork before shooting a through ball into Matheus Nunes. His cross was destined for a tap from Raul Jimenez to Tim Ream’s sliding clearance.
In the 18th minute, Joao Palhinha received the usual yellow card for a late sliding on Matheus Cunha. Fulham’s influential defensive midfielder, his 10th caution of the season, will miss the next two games: London derbies against Brentford and Arsenal.
Sarabia was behind the first try on goal of the match, with Paris Saint-Germain’s January signing Bernd Leno forcing a save that was collected easily enough.
But Leno couldn’t stop Sarabia the next time he took aim. In the 23rd minute, he gained possession and spread it wide to Nunes before continuing his attack forward.
Nunes’ ensuing cross led to a muffled header from Jimenez for Sarabia, who set himself up with his left foot and then shot the ball with his right for a 1–0 lead.
Sarabia’s resume boasts a Champions League semi-final appearance for PSG in 2020 and the 30-year-old showed his class here at Wolves right.
Fulham’s first shot on target came off the head of Carlos Vinicius, but the ball flew into Jose Sa’s arms. Vinicius came on for Aleksandar Mitrovic, the injured striker who watched from the stands, no doubt frustrated.
Trailing 1–0 at half-time, Fulham hadn’t bid enough in the final third. Silva made two changes: Solomon for Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Sasa Lukic for Harrison Reed.
In the 55th minute, Cunha and Sarabia fell injured to Wolves, who wanted to kick the ball out of play. Fulham refused. They played on hoping to take advantage of their opponents’ nine man, possibly thinking it was a time-wasting ploy.
When Fulham’s attack came to nothing, there was shoving and shoving between the players. Meanwhile, Cunha was carried away on a stretcher. No fake injury there.
Solomon’s time came in the 64th minute. With the ball at his feet, he hopped in and curled a shot towards Sa’s goal. It had a long way to go, but the Wolves goalkeeper didn’t come close.
Once again, Solomon had done the job as a stand-in.
Fulham thought they had won it amid eight minutes of stoppage time. Vinicius’ header seemed destined for Wolves’ goal. But somehow Sa got a hand in it and the spoils were shared.
