Player ratings: Fulham 2-2 Crystal Palace

George Rossiter is back with the ratings for the penultimate time this season.

Fulham and Crystal Palace played out an entertaining draw in our last home game of the season as Roy Hodgson continued his run of positive results against the team he once took to a European final. Two palace goals either side of a Mitrovic double left Fulham frustrated not to take all three points, as the Whites head to Old Trafford on the final day of the season next Sunday.

Bernd Leno

After half an hour with little to do, it was important that Leno was alert to stop a goal-line scramble sneaking past his goal-line, and he was. However, I’m sure he’ll be irritated at the ease at which Edouard found the net via the German’s front post not long after. It’s a shame that his original save from Joel Ward will be forgotten after the right-back followed in to take advantage of the rebound. 6.5/10

Kenny Tete

A fairly solid performance for most of the game. Link-up play down the right was spot on, even if his creativity wasn’t on show as much as normal. Like with recent games, a sign of how good Tete is comes down to recognising the lack of joy our opposition had down their left hand side, even if you don’t notice his quality at first glance. His challenge on Eze that lead to the free kick that Ward scored from was unlike Tete in its clumsiness, but he’s got plenty of credit in the bank. 7/10

Tosin

Started the game really strongly. He read so many of Joachim Andersen’s trademark long diagonal passes perfectly, heading away each and every one. His own passing ability was on show too, with a gorgeous defence splitting pass to Wilson in the first half. As the game went on, he looked more and more panicked and defensively shaky, leading to his yellow card late in the game. 6.5/10

Issa Diop

I know it’s something that’s being repeatedly said here at the moment, but going into the 2023/24 season, I really can’t see Marco utilizing Diop at left centre back if it’s not necessary. This game followed a trend of games where Diop deserves praise for being solid defensively, but also it needs to be commented on just how uncomfortable he looks in that position, exemplified by his near own goal just minutes before Palace did actually equalise. 6.5/10

Antonee Robinson

Solid, steady game from Antonee Robinson. On reflection, you can make similar judgements to Tete’s performances in the way that Palace had a wonderful threat on Jedi’s side in the form of Michael Olise, yet the French winger had such little joy against our American full-back. He was unfortunate that the ball cannoned off of him for Palace’s equaliser too. 7/10

Joao Palhinha

What I’ve noticed in recent weeks is even when Palhinha isn’t at his best, he still has this incredible ability to turn defence into attack within seconds in a way not many Fulham players ever have been able to do. He also showed an incredible turn of pace on many times today when chasing down and challenging the likes of Ebere Eze, a trait we’ve not often seen this year. 7/10

Harrison Reed

A really gritty and aggressive performance in all the right ways. Don’t get me wrong, before Marco came, Harrison was a brilliant midfielder. But like so many of this squad, there’s so much more to his game now. Stronger in the tackle, more alert in the attacking third and more involved in attacking link-up play. While the outsiders may not see it, we know that he’s as important a cog as anyone in this side. 7.5/10

Tom Cairney

It was really impressive how many quality attacking positions TC was getting into in the advanced left channels, finding plenty of gaps in between Palace’s defence and midfield. He seems to have very quickly developed a really good relationship with Willian, with the two combining on multiple occasions. His final ball wasn’t always perfect but that was a feature of most of the team in this game. 7/10

Harry Wilson

While he maybe had the quieter game of our two wingers, Wilson still certainly made an impact. In the first half especially, he made Mitchell look like a Sunday league full back on many occasions, including when he skipped past him to win a penalty on the brink of half time. He continues to link well down the right with Tete and Reed and hopefully this form continues into 23/24. 7/10

Willian

Similarly to the abilities of Palhinha, it’s so incredibly rare to see a player glide so gracefully across the Cottage turf. He’s not even slowing down in his mid-thirties, which is incredible. While for the second week in a row his delivery was generally poor, it meant nothing when the Brazilian’s cross found the head of Mitrovic for his and Fulham’s second. 7.5/10

Aleksandar Mitrovic

Mitro’s making up for lost time, that’s for sure. A brilliantly taken penalty and a strong header beyond Sam Johnstone means he’s up to a personal record of 14 Premier League goals for the season. His ball into Wilson in the lead up to the penalty decision was as sublime as the two goals themselves. You’d put a lot of money on him scoring plenty more over the next eight or so months, wouldn’t you Mr Toney… 8.5/10 – Man of the match

Substitutes

Manor Solomon (80’ for Harry Wilson) and Bobby De Cordova-Reid (80’ for Tom Cairney)

Both struggled to get on the ball as Crystal Palace took the game to Fulham and looked the side more likely to find a winner late on. 6/10 for both