Fulham eased to a 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Craven Cottage to take them into ninth place in the Premier League.
Fulham win takes them into ninth
Fulham eased to a 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Craven Cottage to take them into ninth place in the Premier League.
The Cottagers were in control after just 15 minutes when Clint Dempsey finished acrobatically after Danny Murphy's corner was only half-cleared by Bolton.
The American doubled their lead just after the break when he finished neatly from close range after good work from Simon Davies.
The win was sealed on the hour when Brede Hangeland headed home Chris Baird's cross.
The three points lifts Fulham five places into the top-half and just behind Bolton, who missed the chance to climb into seventh.
The victory also extended Fulham's unbeaten run at Craven Cottage to seven matches, during which they have picked up 19 points out of a possible 21.
Fulham's last home defeat came at the hands of West Ham on Boxing Day, which left them facing a potential relegation battle.
Heading into the game, skipper Danny Murphy shook off a dead leg to start for the Cottagers who were able to include Philippe Senderos in the squad for the first time since he joined from Arsenal last June.
Bolton's Owen Coyle was forced to shuffle his pack after Daniel Sturridge, who scored his seventh goal in nine games in the win over Arsenal, failed to overcome injury.
Early opening
The visitors started the stronger and were unfortunate not to break the deadlock within the opening minute.
Kevin Davies' pass from the right found Johan Elmander, whose neat turn and pass was flicked on by Matt Taylor to Fabrice Muamba, who somehow missed from six yards out.
The chance seemed to snap the home side into life, with Jussi Jaskelainen
forced into a low save from Dempsey's low drive two minutes later.
The United States international was also heavily involved in the next action of note, providing a neat pass across the box that Eidur Gudjohnsen somehow managed to scuff over the bar.
Dempsey's excellent start continued and he soon broke the deadlock, superbly rifling home a half-cleared corner into the top corner.
The 15th-minute volley was almost followed up minutes later by a second, although this time the midfielder could not keep his shot down.
Carlos Salcido was the catalyst in the latter move and the Mexican had a chace of his own in the 20th minute, cutting in from the left before unleashing a shot just wide of the top corner.
Despite the home side's dominance, Bolton proved dangerous on the counter-attack and Elmander was unfortunate not to connect with a low Lee Chung-yong drive.
Fulham returned to the attack undeterred and Moussa Dembele forced Jaaskelainen into a superb sprawling save as the home side moved from defence to attack with ease.
Gudjohnsen then almost atoned for earlier fluffing his lines by racing onto Chris Baird's superb long-range pass, but the former Bolton man could only rattle his shot against the post.
Bolton right-back Gretar Steinsson saw a fierce drive well held by Mark Schwarzer on the half-hour mark, before Dembele and Hangeland came close for the home side.
Fulham's superb first period could have been tempered just before the break when Tamir Cohen found space to rifle a goalbound shot from eight yards, but Schwarzer held the ball to quell the home faithful's fears.
Impressive fashion
Hughes' side started the second period in similarly impressive fashion and almost doubled their advantage through Dembele's 22-yard drive, which was deflected onto the bar and out.
The home side did not have to wait long for a second, though, as Dempsey tapped home Gudjohnsen's flick-on in the 48th minute.
The Fulham onslaught continued and, after Simon Davies saw a shot well blocked by Zat Knight, the third came from a set piece.
Murphy's pinpoint free-kick was met on the penalty spot by Hangeland, whose header flew into the top right-hand corner with 25 minutes remaining.
Bolton came close to grabbing a consolation goal through a Gary Cahill header that flew just wide, before the Londoners thought they had netted a fourth through Bobby Zamora.
Davies' whipped-in cross from the right was well controlled by the substitute,
allowing the striker to smash the ball into the top right-hand corner.
However, referee Anthony Taylor chalked off the goal for handball and handed Zamora a yellow card for his troubles.
Bolton continued to attack in the final 10 minutes in search of a goal but were continually thwarted by resolute Fulham defending, with woeful efforts from Steve Sidwell and Elmander the last noteworthy action.
| Fulham |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 3 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 11 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 10 |
Corners |
7 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 70.1 |
Passing Success |
67 |
| 14 |
Tackles |
28 |
| 57.1 |
Tackles Success |
85.7 |
| 51.7 |
Possession |
48.3 |
| 50.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
49.4 |
|
