Cardiff’s survival hopes dented by Babel

A spectacular strike from Ryan Babel pushed Cardiff closer to relegation from the Premier League and gave Fulham a third successive win. Babel scored his third goal in four matches with a scorching curler from 25 yards to secure a 1-0 victory and leave City’s plight looking increasingly bleak. Fulham’s run of decent form under caretaker boss Scott Parker has come too late to save them, and Babel’s thunderbolt may well have helped drag Cardiff back down with them. FULL-TIME Fulham 1-0 Cardiff A Ryan Babel worldie proves the difference as Cardiff’s hopes of #PL safety are dented#FULCAR pic.twitter.com/JoYp8xbqze — Premier League (@premierleague) April 27, 2019 The match was overshadowed by what appeared a horrific injury to Denis Odoi, who stooped to head the ball clear and took a boot in the face from his Fulham team-mate Maxime Le Marchand. The defender appeared to have been out cold as he crumpled to the floor, and although he initially got back to his feet he then required treatment for eight minutes before eventually being taken off on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask. Thankfully Odoi was later said to be fine and did not need to be taken to hospital. Predictably Cardiff were not lacking in effort or spirit, but they carried little goal threat until Junior Hoilett struck the cross bar late on. What it means for the bottom of the #PL table… pic.twitter.com/dvmVjQ71Z8 — Premier League (@premierleague) April 27, 2019 Hoilett threatened occasionally down the right but his shot, into the side-netting, was the closest the visitors came to disturbing Fulham goalkeeper Sergio Rico in the first half. During nine minutes of added time at the end of the half, Babel got free down the left and pulled the ball back but Ryan Sessegnon’s weak volley bounced wide. Moments into the second half Aleksandar Mitrovic should have given Fulham the lead. Tom Cairney raided down the right and squared across goal but Mitrovic, who ended a nine-match run without a goal in the win at Bournemouth last weekend, blazed over. 📍 B A B E L 📍 All of us right now… 😁 pic.twitter.com/yyDRl9ek0t — Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) April 27, 2019 The Serbian then turned Sean Morrison on the edge of the area but once again lifted his shot over the crossbar. Cardiff’s chances were few and far between with Victor Camarasa, their liveliest player, off target with an ambitious effort from 30 yards and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing firing straight at Rico. And with 11 minutes remaining Babel collected the ball from Cyrus Christie and hit a fierce first-time shot which curled away from Etheridge as it flew into the top corner. There was late agony for Cardiff when Rico tipped Danny Ward’s header over before Hoilett’s curler rattled the crossbar. Topics Cardiff City, Fulham, Premier League, Fulham Premier League: Fulham 1 Cardiff 2 The FourFourTwo Preview: Cardiff vs Fulham Premier League: Cardiff 3 Fulham 1 Turner: Cardiff need goals to ensure survival Mullen scores decisive goal as St Mirren claim valuable point Wednesday hit back at Preston but late play-off push is over Harris hails Lions are securing survival Hamilton strike at death to boost survival hopes Matt Targett hits 1000th goal of the Premier League season to make Saints safe Quiz! Can you name the PFA Premier League Teams of the Year from the last decade? Ranked! Every one of Manchester United’s post-Alex Ferguson signings How Nemanja Matic shows up everything wrong with Jose Mourinho’s reign at Manchester United Quiz! How many of these 20 football club owners can you name? 5 things Manchester United must do to move forward as a club
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