Updated at 22.53
STRUGGLING CRAWLEY set aside their miserable League Two form to claim a third Premier League scalp in four seasons by dumping Fulham out of the Carabao Cup with a stunning 2-0 success.
Kevin Betsy’s side sit second bottom of the English Football League following a single point from five games but deservedly progressed to round three thanks to goals from captain Tom Nichols and Liverpool loanee James Balagizi, while Ireland underage international and Arsenal loanee Mazeed Ogungbo also featured.
Marco Silva’s much-changed Cottagers offered little in response before joining Norwich and Leeds on the list of top-flight clubs who have suffered cup embarrassment at Broadfield Stadium in recent years.
Fulham boss Silva made 10 alterations from the weekend win over Brentford, including handing a full debut to Ireland international Shane Duffy and £16million (€19 million) centre-back Issa Diop.
His experimental side looked shaky from the outset and fell behind with 16 minutes on the clock.
Striker Nichols claimed the breakthrough goal, collecting Ashley Nadesan’s pass to drill a low left-footed drive across Marek Rodak and into the far corner.
The Crawley skipper marked the confident finish by copying the viral twerking celebration of Kansas City midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta and he had further reason for jubilation just four minutes into the second half.
Fulham midfielder Tyrese Francois sloppily conceded possession deep inside his own half and England U19 international Balagizi, who was denied by Rodak just before the break, seized on Nichols’ delightful reverse pass to emphatically slot his third goal of the campaign into the bottom right corner.
A dismal Fulham debut for Diop was epitomised by him being booked for hauling down impressive 18-year-old Balagizi, before Rodak spared his side further humiliation by superbly keeping out the lively Nadesan.
Visiting forward Jay Stansfield threatened to halve the deficit during seven minutes of added time but Crawley keeper Corey Addai delighted the majority of the crowd of 5,577 with a rare save.
Despite warnings on the public address system and footballing authorities threatening stricter punishments this campaign, many home fans spilled on to the pitch at full-time.
Another player Madrid nearly ruined!
@Paddy D: well that sounds harsh not ruin but ,there way of everything has to happen know and there record for good players playing mediocre due to tactics formation team spirit is astonishing!! Anelka woodgate, Isco , kaka , beckham ,sneijder, ze roberto , cambiasso , Fabinho etc
@Paddy D: not harsh at all! Spot on. I ranted about this on the last 42 article hilighting his move back to Frankfurt. Knew he would deliver, albeit against basement dwellers S04. Class player but just had his career momentarily stunted by the greed and carelessness of Madrid and their bottomless bank account. Great to see him back with a bang straight away. Jovic, Silva and either Younes/Kamada or Barkok look like they could be a deadly front three…fed with crosses from Kostic and Durm. Watch this space!
@Paddy D: woodgate