A man-of-the-match performance from Simon Davies set Fulham on their way to a 3-1 over Reading.
Davies inspires Cottagers success
The relief was plain to see on the faces of the Fulham faithful, as a man-of-the-match performance from Simon Davies set them on their way to a 3-1 over Reading.
The midfielder struck home after 18 minutes with a delightful volley into the bottom right-hand corner, before Kevin Doyle's close range header in the second half equalised for the away side.
But Fulham regained the lead on 73 minutes through Clint Demspey, who tapped home from a David Healy cross.
And it was the Northern Ireland international who sealed it in the dying moments of the game, as he sliced home from a precise Davies cross with a suspicion of offside.
Fulham's Elliot Ozomusi was red-carded late on for a reckless challenge on James Harper, but the home side held on to take the three points.
The opening exchanges were tediously scrappy. Both sides gave the ball away with regularity in a featureless first 10 minutes.
But Fulham, so pedestrian up to then, suddenly found their touch and went ahead through Davies on 18 minutes.
Firm and true
Dempsey's fierce shot was tipped around a post by the diving Marcus Hahnemann and some home fans groaned as Diomansy Kamara and Hameur Bouazza engineered a short corner ploy.
But eventually the cross was headed out by Reading striker Dave Kitson - only for Davies to size up the loose ball at the edge of the area before drilling it firm and true into the bottom corner. It was the Welsh international's second goal in a week and his third this season.
And Fulham were massively encouraged by the breakthrough. Dempsey looked set to add a second goal until flagged offside from a Davies cross on 22 minutes. Hahnemann saved the shot in any case.
Bouazza and Kamara showed some guile and Steve Davis kept things ticking in midfield but gradually Reading began to take a grip in midfield.
But despite Reading's possession for the rest of the half there was little end product. Kitson sent a fanciful overhead shot wide and Michael Duberry and Leroy Lita both failed to direct headers on target from promising set-pieces.
Under siege
How different after the break. Manager Steve Coppell's interval speech must have been a good one as Fulham's goal immediately came under siege.
Lita and Kitson were both clearly offside when the former got the final touch to net Duberry's leaping header and Stephen Hunt was unlucky to see his chip shot beat Antti Niemi but also the crossbar.
Niemi earned his money with a fine save from Harper's smart free-kick after Omozusi was harshly booked for barging into Hunt who then forced the keeper into another impressive stop.
But Fulham's marking failed from the subsequent corner and Doyle was allowed the freedom of the far post to head in his fourth goal of the season from Nicky Shorey's cross.
Just when Fulham threatened to fold, though, Sanchez sent on substitute strikers Shefki Kuqi and Healy to turn the match on its head again.
After Dejan Stefanovic just about kept the ball in play to find Healy, the little Ulsterman - who had replaced £6million Kamara - put in a superb cross and although Kuqi's header was blocked, Dempsey was in the right place to scramble the ball in.
Healy finished it in the last minute, arriving on a breakaway to put away Davies' right-wing cross but Omozusi's dismissal left a nasty taste especially as he did not even appear to make contact with Harper for the second offence.
| Fulham |
Team Statistics |
Reading |
| 3 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
6 |
| 8 |
Corners |
9 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
8 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 66.1 |
Passing Success |
59.1 |
| 20 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 100 |
Tackles Success |
84.6 |
| 42.4 |
Possession |
57.6 |
| 41.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
58.5 |
|
