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  • Nevland (43), Dempsey (67), Dempsey (88)
  • Date:2009-11-25
  • Kick-off:20:00
  • Venue:Craven Cottage
  • Attendance:21414
  • Referee:Attwell, S

Live Commentary

90mins

The referee blows the whistle for full time

90mins

Blackburn have not played well at all in the second half, whereas Fulham have been deserving of their lead

88mins

FULHAM 3-0 BLACKBURN. DEMPSEY scores his second of the game with a neat finish after awful defending from Blackburn and Andrews in particular, who let Dempsey turn too easily.

87mins

Konchesky tries to chest the ball back to Schwarzer but he gets it horribly wrong and the ball bounces out for a corner. Luckily for Fulham, Dunn makes a complete mess of the corner

84mins

Duff, who has been fairly quiet tonight, comes off for Simon Davies

82mins

Chimbonda has a great chance to score after good play from Andrews and McCarthy. The effort from Chimbonda goes narrowly wide but, from that position, he really should have scored

80mins

Dickson Etuhu comes on for Greening

80mins

Fulham are knocking the ball around with ease now, drawing cheers from the home fans and further frustrating Blackburn

78mins

Gera sends in a good cross but Nevland can't get on the end of it. Paul Robinson collects the ball and sets Blackburn on their way but they're lacking in energy right now

76mins

Duff whips the ball in and Baird has a free header but he wastes the chance in the end. Blackburn look jaded at the moment

74mins

Konchesky's volley from a corner strikes Dunn's back. His shot looked dangerous until it made contact with the Blackburn man

71mins

Kalinic fouls Hangeland and gives away a needless free kick. Blackburn need to keep their cool here

69mins

It should be three for Fulham, as Nevland's shot from the edge of the box goes horribly wide

68mins

Blackburn have a chance to pull one back at the other end through McCarthy and Diouf but Fulham defend well

67mins

FULHAM 2-0 BLACKBURN. DEMPSEY doubles Fulham's lead after great work from Duff.

65mins

Nikola Kalinic comes on in place of Di Santo

65mins

Roberts comes off for McCarthy

63mins

Paintsil chips the ball down the right for Fulham but it goes frustratingly out of play. More sloppy play from the home side

62mins

Dunn sends in a great ball and Di Santo is unlucky not to equalise for Blackburn with a rising header

61mins

Dunn clips the ball forward but Hangeland, who has been much, much better this half, is there to head the ball away

58mins

Zamora makes way for Zoltan Gera, much to the delight of the home fans

57mins

Blackburn aren't enjoying the same amount of possession as they did in the first half, with Fulham really growing into this game

55mins

Zamora drills in a cross but it's massively overhit, with Dempsey making a good run on the edge of the box. Extremely wasteful from Fulham

54mins

There seems to be some activity on the Blackburn bench, so there may be a substitution shortly. Benni McCarthy perhaps?

52mins

Nelsen finds Grella, who tries to pick out Roberts down the line but the ball has too much pace on it

49mins

Duff's cross is headed away by Nelsen. Good pressure from Fulham these last few minutes

48mins

Dempsey has a great chance at the back post after some sloppy Blackburn marking. His header goes wide in the end and he really should have done better from that position

47mins

Fulham have started the half brightly as Dempsey is fouled by Dunn. The Blackburn man escapes a caution

46mins

The second half is underway

45mins

Half-Time: FULHAM 1-0 BLACKBURN. The whistle blows for half-time, with Fulham the happier after taking that undeserved lead.

43mins

FULHAM 1-0 BLACKBURN. NEVLAND opens the scoring with a low finish out of nowhere, completely against the run of play.

42mins

Dunn and Di Santo play a nice one-two before finding Roberts, whose curled attempt aimed towards the top corner drifts wide

40mins

Roberts creates half a yard of space just outside the box but his shot is easily saved by Schwarzer

39mins

The Fulham crowd are really getting frustrated now at their team's awful passing. Fulham really have struggled so far tonight

38mins

The referee has a quick word with Roberts and Paintsil after a disagreement between the two

36mins

Fulham take a corner but it's wasted once again, missing all the attackers and going straight out of play

35mins

No real clear cut chances since the opening minutes of this game. Blackburn will feel like they should be ahead but it remains goalless

33mins

Roberts runs towards goal and Konchesky makes a bit of a mess of it, sending the ball out for a corner. Samba gets the final touch on the corner, sending the ball out for a goal kick

31mins

Roberts tries to square the ball to Di Santo in a dangerous position but Hangeland intercepts

30mins

Jonathan Greening takes a free kick. It is headed down and away by Nelson. Greening picks up the ball at the corner flag and his promising cross is headed away by Nelson once again

28mins

Chimbonda plays the ball to Vince Grella, who finds Christopher Samba. Nice, flowing move from Blackburn but the ball eventually rolls out for a Fulham goal kick

27mins

Paintsil plays a long ball towards Zamora. Nelsen is slightly out of position but Zamora wastes the chance after handling the ball

24mins

The home fans are starting to vent their frustration at Fulham's sloppy play as Nevland once again plays a poor ball

22mins

Mark Schwarzer makes a comfortable save from Di Santo's attempt

21mins

Lars Jacobsen sends a long ball towards Diouf. John Paintsil slips but the Blackburn man fails to take advantage and a promising position once again comes to nothing

19mins

Andrews shoots after great work from El Hadji Diouf, who gets past Duff with ease. His shot is deflected off Hangeland and the ball travels harmlessly wide

17mins

Dunn's free kick is cleared comfortably by Zamora. Dunn and Damien Duff compete for the loose ball

16mins

Bobby Zamora chases the ball but to no avail. Zamora has been quiet so far for Fulham, who are struggling to grow into this game

13mins

Dunn finds Pascal Chimbonda, who plays the ball back to Ryan Nelsen. Nice, calm play from Blackburn at the moment

10mins

Konchesky takes a throw but it is intercepted by Dunn. Both sides are guilty of giving the ball away too easily at the moment

9mins

Jonathan Greening plays the ball to Chris Baird, who passes to Paul Konchesky before the ball is intercepted by a Blackburn player. Slightly scrappy couple of minutes in the game

8mins

Di Santo tears away from Aaron Hughes with a quick burst of pace but the Fulham defence recovers to thwart the Blackburn attack

6mins

Blackburn are called upon to defend for the first time as Andrews is forced into action to put the pressure on Clint Dempsey, whose weak header goes wide

5mins

Dunn finds Jason Roberts, who gives Brede Hangeland a few problems. Roberts is looking a physical threat up front so far

4mins

Bright start from Blackburn, who are applying early pressure. David Dunn takes a corner but the ball is flicked away by the Fulham defence

1mins

Franco di Santo could have given Blackburn the lead within the first 90 seconds. Keith Andrews' through ball was missed by the Fulham defence but Di Santo's attempt wasn't the best in the end

1mins

Referee Stuart Attwell gets the game underway

0mins

Fulham make 3 changes from the side that lost at the weekend. They've not had the best of months and will be looking to secure all 3 points against Blackburn, who were in good form against Bolton at the weekend

Match Preview

Fulham take on Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage on Wednesday evening with both teams looking to continue their rise away from the relegation zone.

Sam Allardyce's visitors will be guided once again by assistant boss Neil McDonald as Sam Allardyce is undergoing minor heart surgery.

Allardyce will have been impressed with his deputy as Rovers halted a run of five straight defeats on the road to record their first win on their travels at Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.

David Dunn was inspirational at the Reebok Stadium as he opened the scoring in the 2-0 success and will be looking to take his new-found confidence to the capital as the Lancashire outfit aim to grab back-to-back wins away from Ewood Park.

Stand-in boss McDonald will be keen to utilise his temporary role and show he has what it takes to manage at the top level following his acrimonious dismissal from League One side Carlisle United after just one game of the 2007-08 season.

Roy Hodgson's men fell to a disappointing 1-0 reversal at Birmingham City on Saturday and he will want his side to get back to winning ways at the earliest opportunity.

The St Andrew's defeat brought the Cottagers' five-game unbeaten run to an end.

Rovers sit in 11th place, five points away from the drop-zone while Fulham loiter one place below and one point behind.

They will both want to consolidate their mid-table position and add further breathing space in their quest to avoid the drop.

Fulham striker Erik Nevland has picked up a virus while Diomansy Kamara (ankle) and Andrew Johnson (groin) could be missing which puts pressure on Hodgson's attacking options.

Instrumental midfielder Danny Murphy (knee) could also miss out once again.


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Match Report

Blackburn Rovers failed to provide the perfect tonic for stricken manager Sam Allardyce as Fulham eased to a comfortable 3-0 victory at Craven Cottage.

Allardyce is undergoing heart surgery on Friday and was told not to follow the game from his sick-bed - and it was probably just as well after his side failed to turn up and a goal from Erik Nevland and two from Clint Dempsey sealed Fulham's win.

The three points lifted Roy Hodgson's side up to tenth, but after the opening 40 minutes the vast majority inside a freezing Craven Cottage would surely have agreed that neither team deserved anything from the game after what had been a turgid game.

That all changed, though, when Nevland slotted home just before the break, and Fulham were much improved after the interval as Dempsey made the game safe with 20 minutes remaining and added a third late on.

Allardyce had picked the Blackburn XI and decided to play with both Jason Roberts and Franco Di Santo up front, but he would have been disappointed by their impact.

Di Santo had Blackburn's only clear chance of the entire game after just 90 seconds, though, being denied by Mark Schwarzer after Keith Andrews had put him through.

From there the game degenerated into aerial ping-pong, with the home fans not afraid to show their displeasure at the lack of adventure on offer.

But with time running out at the end of the half Fulham took the lead through their only coherent passing movement.

Nevland was at the heart of it, playing one-two's with first Bobby Zamora and then Damien Duff, before latching on to the latter's astute pass and firing inside Paul Robinson's near post.

It was a lead the hosts did not deserve, but they made the most of their good fortune, putting in a much improved display in the second period.

Chris Baird had come closest to doubling their advantage, his low drive causing Robinson to spill the ball, but it was Dempsey who scored the all-important second with 20 minutes to go.

Again Duff, who played all 120 minutes in Ireland's heart-breaking World Cup qualifying defeat to France last week, was at the heart of the move as he cut inside and fired at goal, the shot taking a deflection to land perfectly at the feet of Dempsey, who fired home despite vociferous appeals for offside from the visitors.

Nevland then somehow missed when Dempsey put him clean through, but it always seemed unlikely that Blackburn would trouble Schwarzer again, let alone score twice more.

And Fulham put the game completely beyond their visitors when Dempsey scored his fifth Premier League goal in as many games.

Simon Davies was the creator this time and Dempsey controlled the Welshman's cross before finding the bottom corner to make Allardyce's evening even more miserable.

Fulham

Blackburn Rovers

Corners

33

Fouls

913

Goal attempts

911

Shots off target

58

Offsides

14

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