Premier League

February 9, 2010

Full-time

Fulham

3 - 0

Burnley

Premier League

20:00 GMT, February 9, 2010

Craven Cottage, England

Referee: Steve Bennett

Zamora wraps up points for Fulham

Scoring Summary

Fulham Burnley
Danny Murphy (23') 
David Elm (31') 
Bobby Zamora (54') 

Fulham moved into ninth place in the Premier League with a comfortable win over Burnley at Craven Cottage.

• Hodgson praises Fulham's hard work

First-half goals from Danny Murphy and David Elm put the home side in control and Bobby Zamora wrapped up all three points with a second-half free-kick.

Burnley, who have yet to win away this season, remain close to the relegation zone.

Fulham 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.

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 parried 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 hit the angle of crossbar and post.

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.

  • Hodgson praises Fulham's hard work

    After the match Fulham boss Roy Hodgson said he was delighted with his side's performance as the Cottagers moved into ninth place in the Premier League.

    "I thought the victory lay in the hard work and the quality of our defending," said Hodgson. "We gave them very little time and space to play and we used the ball wisely. We got everything right tonight - the defending and attacking - and on a night like that, we would have been a tough nut to crack for any team."

    Hodgson was also delighted to see Elm grab his first goal for the club. The Swedish striker made the opener for Murphy and then slotted home from close range after Brian Jensen had parried a shot by Zamora.

    "It was really good to see David score," added Hodgson. "He's been a bit of a revelation. At the time he came in we had a lot of strikers, but he has moved up the pecking order and deserves to be where he is."

    Fulham now face Notts County in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday and then Shakhtar in the Europa League next week. But Hodgson is not getting excited about the resumption of their European adventure.

    "We will attack the FA Cup," said Hodgson. "But I'm not going to change by mind about the Europa League. My priority is still the league and the FA Cup."

    Burnley boss Brian Laws claimed Fulham's opening two goals were offside but insists they will keep working hard in an effort to start winning away from home.

    "Luck has not been on our side tonight," said Laws. "We did not particularly play well but I thought their first two goals were offside. The TV replays show the referee and linesman got it wrong. They are important decisions for us. We need any help we can get.

    "Our performance was not up to the standard we set on Saturday against West Ham. We shot ourselves in the foot with the first goal because we could have cleared our lines, but the second phase of play was offside. But if the referee and linesman get it right, it is no goal. One or two heads dropped but we cannot carry anybody.

    "The two goals coming in quick succession, knocked the stuffing out of us.

    "We know our away form is not great but we will just have to pick ourselves up."

    Laws admits it is vital that his side manage to break their away duck.

    "Psychologically it will start to affect the players," conceded Laws. "We have to change the mind set. We put in a magnificent performance against West Ham on Saturday and we have not had time to enjoy that because there was another important game against Fulham."