Fulham hold off Cardiff to reach Championship playoff final

LONDON: Fulham will face Brentford in the Championship playoff final after holding on to beat Cardiff 3-2 on aggregate despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg of their semi-final on Thursday.

Curtis Nelson headed Cardiff back into the contest from a corner after just eight minutes to give the Welsh side hope of a comeback, but the visitors’ lead lasted less than a minute as Neeskens Kebano swept home an equaliser.

Fulham then had a host of chances to put the tie to bed before half-time, but were made to endure a nervy night as half-time substitute Lee Tomlin hooked in with his first touch to give Cardiff life again at the start of the second half. Cardiff continued to pepper the Fulham box with crosses and came within inches of forcing extra time when Robert Glatzel fired over on the volley deep into stoppage time.