Cottagers clout Clarets

Zamora: Free-kick sealed win

Man of the match: David Elm. The Swede not only claimed his first Premier League goal but also helped Danny Murphy break the deadlock in the 23rd minute.

Moment of the match: When Bobby Zamora capitalised on some poor wall positioning to score Fulham's third and final goal.

Save of the match: Brian Jensen produced a fine reaction save to deny Bobby Zamora moments in the 50th minute.

Talking point: How much longer will Burnley's woeful away record continue? They played the ball nicely but were unable to find that killer touch.

Related links

Teams

• Burnley
• Fulham

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Transfer Centre
• Fantasy Football
• Sky Sports Twitter

Strikes from Danny Murphy, David Elm and Bobby Zamora earned Fulham a comfortable victory as Burnley's woeful away record continued at Craven Cottage.

Murphy converted a well-worked move to power the hosts in front and Elm doubled the advantage before the break by tapping in from close range after Clarets goalkeeper Brian Jensen had parried a fizzing Zamora shot into his path.

Roy Hodgson's side continued to press forward and Zamora made it three by passing his free-kick around the wall and into the bottom corner.

Burnley tried their best to haul themselves back into the game but were constantly thwarted by a solid Cottagers defence.

The closest the visitors came was in the final minute when Chris Eagles drew a good low save from Mark Schwarzer.

Fulham had looked in determined mood from the off and engineered the first chance of the game in the seventh minute when Damien Duff's cross shot only just evaded the far post and the waiting Simon Davies.

Duff should have done much better when he got clear of the Burnley defence five minutes later but his cross from the touchline fell behind all the onrushing Fulham attackers.

Response

Burnley responded with Andre Bikey trying his luck from 30 yards. However, his weak effort was well wide of the target.

There was little to enthuse about in a dull opening period although Duff continued to threaten for the home side.

In the 21st minute, Elm tried to curl the ball around Brian Jensen but the Burnley goalkeeper held the ball at the second attempt.

But captain Murphy broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. A cross from Nicky Shorey was headed into his path by Elm and the Fulham midfielder applied a neat finish from six yards.

Burnley almost levelled from the restart but Steven Fletcher's 20-yard angled drive flashed past Mark Schwarzer's right-hand upright.

Dickson Utuhu was denied Fulham's second goal in the 28th minute when his 20-yard shot was brilliantly pushed to safety by Jensen.

But the second goal arrived in the 31st minute when Zamora got the better of Leon Cort only to see his shot spilled by Jensen.

However, Elm followed up to slip the loose ball beyond Jensen from six yards for his first goal for the club.

Burnley boss Brian Laws immediately replaced Cort with Chris Eagles.

In the 42nd minute the Clarets almost pulled a goal back when a 25-yard free-kick from Tyrone Mears clipped the upright.

In charge

But Fulham remained in charge and Elm could have added to his tally had he not drifted offside moments later.

Zamora was a constant thorn in Burnley's side but required much better support from the midfield.

Schwarzer was called upon to deal with a cross from Wade Elliott in the 45th minute but the Fulham keeper had largely been untroubled in the opening half.

Zamora should have made it three for Fulham five minutes after the interval but his eight-yard shot was brilliantly saved by Jensen.

Seconds later an attempted cross from Duff almost confused Jensen and the Burnley keeper was relieved to see the ball drop onto the top of the net.

But Burnley paid for some woeful defending in the 54th minute when Zamora was fouled by David Edgar on the edge of the Fulham penalty area.

The striker dusted himself down and curled a low free-kick into the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-0 to the home side.

Fulham continued to dominate and Duff had a shot deflected just wide in the 65th minute.

Elm and Zamora were forming a clever partnership in attack and Burnley struggled to cope with their neat approach work.

In the 69th minute Murphy almost worked a shooting chance for himself after threading his way through the Burnley defence but Jensen smothered the danger.

Substitute Stefano Okaka should have made it 4-0 to Fulham in the 78th minute but Jensen pulled off another fine save to deny him.

Okaka then saw a 90th-minute shot flash just the wrong side of the post as Fulham tried to finish with a flourish.

That result moves Fulham up to ninth in the table while Burnley have dropped to 16th, just two points above the drop zone.