Simon Davies' brace after Gael Kakuta had opened the scoring helped Fulham ease to a 3-0 victory at shot-shy Sunderland.
Both sides had all but confirmed their Premier League status for another season in the last seven days so the game had an end-of-campaign feel to it.
A goalless draw seemed the most likely outcome after a grim opening half-hour as both teams went through the motions on a warm afternoon.
However, the visitors took the lead with the first clear-cut opening of the game in the 34th minute when Kakuta poked the ball home from close range after good work by the outstanding Bobby Zamora.
The goal seemed to knock any self-confidence the Black Cats had and Fulham dominated the rest of the encounter. It came as little surprise when the Cottagers doubled their lead just past the hour mark when Steve Sidwell set up Davies who easily beat Simon Mignolet.
With the home fans streaming out of the Stadium of Light, Fulham added a third with 17 minutes remaining when weak defending allowed Davies to bundle home Zamora's cross.
The rest of the match was played out in front of a rapidly emptying ground as Hughes' side returned to the capital with all three points for only the second time this season.
Sunderland meanwhile are still not safe from relegation, although last weekend's 4-2 victory against Wigan Athletic has at least given them some breathing space as they prepare for the last three games of the campaign.
LINE UPS:
Sunderland: 22-Mignolet, 02-Bardsley, 04-Turner, 06-Cattermole, 08-Malbranque, 10-Henderson, 11-Muntari, 15-Onuoha, 25-Colback, 27-Elmohamady, 28-Sessegnon SUBS USED: 07-Zenden, 29-Ferdinand, 38-Lynch
Fulham: 01-Schwarzer, 03-Salcido, 06-Baird, 07-Sidwell, 13-Murphy, 14-Senderos, 18-Hughes, 22-Gudjohnsen, 24-Kakuta, 25-Zamora, 29-Davies SUBS USED: 08-Johnson, 20-Etuhu, 27-Greening
0 comments:
Post a Comment