Fulham defeated nine-man Crystal Palace 3-0 to put their problems against London rivals behind them, winning a Premier League derby in the city for just the second time in 29 attempts.
As a result of Tyrick Mitchell being dismissed in the first half and James Tomkins being dismissed just before the hour at Selhurst Park, Palace contributed to their own demise.
Bobby Decordova-Reid gave Fulham the lead after 31 minutes, but after 34 minutes, Mitchell received a straight red card, and after 57 minutes, Tomkins—who was making his first start in the Premier League in precisely a year—got a second yellow. After 71 minutes, Tim Ream, the captain of Fulham, scored his first Premier League goal, and 10 minutes later, Aleksandar Mitrovic nodded in his 10th goal of the season.
Fulham came out in warm-up tops with "Cohen 2" on the back to honor their World Cup-winning former England right-back, George Cohen, who passed away last week. A rousing minute of applause preceded kickoff.
They started off well, forcing Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita to make a fingertip save on a long-range free kick by Andreas Pereira. The domination of the midfield by Pereira and Harrison Reed made it difficult for the home team to make an impact.
The only real opportunity for Palace in the opening period came in the 27th minute, when Michael Olise connected with Jordan Ayew who was coming in from the right side thanks to a Fulham mistake.
Although he did well to get his shot off before Antonee Robinson could block it, the Ghana World Cup player's attempt struck the crossbar. But shortly after the half-hour mark, Fulham gained the lead that their early domination had earned.
The ball was played forward to Mitrovic on the right after Kenny Tete intercepted Mitchell's hesitant attempt to catch Joachim Andersen's under-hit pass. The Serbian striker sent in a pinpoint cross that Decordova-Reid perfectly timed a header to beat Guaita with.
Three minutes later, Mitchell mishandled a Tomkins pass and juddered into Tete's shin in an effort to win the ball back, making Palace's task even more difficult. The decision to dismiss a player was made without hesitation by referee Andy Madley, and VAR promptly upheld it.
Tomkins, who had already been cautioned for a foul on Mitrovic, was dismissed after 57 minutes after making contact with the Serbian with his raised arm as he raced past the Palace defender.
As Fulham attempted to take advantage of their numerical advantage, Pereira struck the outside of the post. Ream, however, finally doubled the advantage for the visitors when he hooked in a fierce left-foot shot after Mitrovic had nodded back Pereira's corner from the right.
When VAR indicated that the ball may have struck Mitrovic's arm, referee Madley looked at the monitor, but the goal stood. After Willian's bouncing pass, Mitrovic headed in the third goal himself from close range to seal a resounding victory.
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