Fulham booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round today with a 2-1 comeback win over Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium, but they had to earn it the hard way—first by weathering a sharp Stoke start, then by raising their level after the interval, and finally by seizing on one late mistake that decided the tie.
Stoke, desperately needing a lift, looked the hungrier side early on and were rewarded when Jun-Ho Bae finished off a slick move to put the Potters ahead, sending the home crowd into full voice.
Fulham, heavily rotated and initially a touch loose in possession, gradually found their rhythm through the first half, and when they turned the screw in the second period they overpowered Stoke for long spells, equalising through a lively Kevin before Harrison Reed’s alert interception and calm finish completed the turnaround.
The opening exchanges set the tone for an intense cup afternoon. Stoke showed aggression without the ball and purpose with it, snapping into challenges and trying to move Fulham around quickly rather than letting them settle into their passing. They also carried a threat from early deliveries, and the match could have tilted even sooner when Ashley Phillips arrived at the back post from a floated set piece but couldn’t keep his effort on target.
That miss didn’t dent Stoke’s confidence; if anything it sharpened it, and Stoke kept asking questions down the flanks—especially when they could pull Fulham’s full-backs into awkward defensive positions and then attack the space behind them.
Stoke’s breakthrough on 19 minutes was the best piece of football in the match from either side: a move built on good positioning and smart decisions, ending with Bae timing his run perfectly and smashing a high-quality finish past Benjamin Lecomte. It was a goal that captured Stoke’s early intent—positive, brave, and direct—and for a while it felt like Fulham were going to have to grind their way back into it. Fulham did create moments before half-time, but they arrived more as flashes than sustained pressure.
Kevin was the spark, repeatedly carrying the ball into dangerous areas, and Stoke goalkeeper Tommy Simkin had to be sharp to keep out a curling effort that looked destined for the top corner. Fulham also came close when Kevin turned provider and picked out Alex Iwobi in space, only for the midfielder to glance his header wide when he might have done better. Even then, Stoke still looked capable of hurting Fulham on the break, and the first half ended with the home side protecting their lead with a mix of compact defending and timely counters.
The second half began with Stoke briefly showing they still had teeth. A good defensive intervention turned into a quick transition, Lamine Cissé surged forward, and his curling strike forced Lecomte into a fingertip save that pushed the ball onto the post—an important moment because a 2-0 lead would have changed the entire shape of the contest.
Instead, Fulham survived that scare and immediately struck back with a goal that shifted momentum. On 55 minutes Kevin—who had been Fulham’s main threat all afternoon—cut inside from the left and hit a first-time effort low into the corner, a finish full of conviction that finally turned Fulham’s possession into something concrete. At 1-1, Stoke’s legs started to feel the work they’d done earlier, and Fulham suddenly looked like the Premier League side: sharper movement, quicker combinations, and far more players arriving in the final third.
For the next 20 minutes it became wave after wave toward the Stoke box. Fulham flooded forward with runners, recycled attacks quickly, and forced Stoke into a series of clearances and blocks that gradually sapped the home side’s composure. Stoke were still fighting—throwing bodies into challenges and trying to reset their defensive line between attacks—but the game had swung. Fulham’s full-backs pushed higher, midfielders stepped onto second balls, and Stoke were pushed deeper and deeper, reduced to hanging on and hoping the pressure would pass.
The decisive moment arrived six minutes from time, and it was exactly the kind of ruthless, streetwise act that separates teams in tight cup ties. Under pressure, Simkin attempted a short pass out from the back toward Tatsuki Seko, but the touch and awareness weren’t there. Harrison Reed anticipated it, nipped in to steal possession, and finished calmly to make it 2-1—an opportunistic goal, yes, but also a goal born from Fulham’s sustained pressing and Stoke’s inability to relieve the pressure cleanly. The stadium’s mood flipped instantly: Stoke stunned, Fulham celebrating, and the final minutes turning into a frantic search for one last chance that never truly arrived.
After the match, Fulham boss Marco Silva’s message was shaped by both relief and standards. He was pleased with how his side responded after going behind—especially the way they controlled the second half and kept pushing until the breakthrough came—but he also made it clear that the first-half sloppiness and lack of sharpness isn’t something he wants to see repeated. In his view, Fulham’s improvement after the interval was built on better tempo, better decision-making in the final third, and greater intensity without the ball, and he pointed to Kevin’s impact and Reed’s alertness as perfect examples of players taking responsibility in key moments. Most of all, Silva stressed the simple truth of knockout football: you don’t always get a perfect performance, but you must find a way to progress.
Stoke manager Mark Robins, meanwhile, took pride from the way his team started and the quality of the opening goal, but he couldn’t hide the frustration at how the tie slipped away. He felt Stoke had moments that could have changed the game—Phillips’ early chance, the post-hit effort early in the second half—and he was disappointed they couldn’t find the second goal that would have given them real breathing space. The equaliser, from his perspective, came at a time when Stoke were beginning to suffer, and the winner was the hardest part to take: a self-inflicted error after a long defensive effort. Robins’ overall view was that the performance deserved more than the outcome, but the lesson was painfully clear—against top-flight opposition, one lapse in concentration can undo an hour of good work.
Fulham move on, and they’ll take confidence from the character of the comeback and the control they eventually imposed. Stoke, despite the heartbreak, at least showed a blueprint of how they can hurt higher-level teams—intensity, bravery, and direct attacking intent—yet they also got a harsh reminder of how unforgiving this competition can be when fatigue hits and decisions get rushed. In the end it was Bae’s quality that gave Stoke hope, Kevin’s drive that brought Fulham level, and Reed’s sharp instincts that settled a cup tie decided by one costly second.
