Fulham in sticky situation after Toffeemen defeatEverton 4 (Jelavic 7(pen), 40, Fellaini 16, Cahill 60) Fulham 0

Nikica Jelavic scored twice as Everton moved a step closer to their goal of finishing above Liverpool with an emphatic victory at Goodison Park.
The Croatian struck twice before half-time, with Marouane Fellaini adding another to make it 3-0 at the interval.
Substitute Tim Cahill added a fourth on the hour mark, as Fulham fell apart.
The victory moves Everton into seventh place in the Premier League table, two points clear of their great Merseyside rivals with three games remaining.
The Toffees are finishing the season as strongly as anyone, with manager David Moyes determined to secure the eighth top-eight finish of his 11-year tenure.
Everton have not finished above Liverpool in the Premier League table since 2005 but they have now scored four goals in three consecutive league games.
Much of that has been down to the form of Jelavic, who signed from Rangers in January. And he stole the show again, this time at the expense of Fulham's defenders.
Cottagers manager Martin Jol missed the trip to Merseyside with a chest infection, leaving first-team coach Billy McKinlay in charge for the day.
If that illness had not been enough to rule Jol out, a quick glance at the record books might have left the Dutchman feeling sick.
Fulham had lost their previous 18 matches at Goodison Park, their last victory coming in February 1948, their last point in 1959.
Recent history also provided Everton supporters with confidence. The same side that held Manchester United to a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford took the field and began where they left off last Sunday.
Sharper to the ball, swifter to use it, Everton snatched the initiative from the off.
Steven Pienaar's quick feet won an early free-kick as Moussa Dembele lunged in. Jelavic's curling effort only got as far as Pavel Pogrebnyak, who raised his hand in front of his face to block the ball while standing in the penalty area.
Referee Phil Dowd had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Jelavic made no mistake, taking his tally to nine goals since his move to Merseyside.
The Croatian striker almost scored a second minutes later, latching onto Phil Jagielka's long ball, outmuscling Brede Hangeland only to fire his shot against the right-hand upright. A minute later Fellaini did double the lead, heading in unmarked from a right-wing corner.
Fulham had chances and might have pulled a goal back but for a fantastic save by Tim Howard.
Clint Dempsey's deflected shot appeared to have wrong-footed the American goalkeeper, but he quickly changed direction, thrusting his right hand up to deflect the shot up and over the bar.
Everton were in command, though. A delightfully weighted pass by Pienaar sent Jelavic clear, he beat a charging Mark Schwarzer to the ball, turned and shot beyond the lone Fulham defender on the line.
The second half offered little respite for the visitors. Cahill, who replaced the injured Darron Gibson at half-time, added a fourth on the hour mark, latching onto Pienaar's chipped through-ball to beat Schwarzer.
Jelavic came within a whisker of his hat-trick with a curling free-kick, but Schwarzer came to Fulham's rescue on a day they will want to forget.

Cahill Gets Australia Off To A Flyer In Asian CupIndia 0 Australia 4 (Cahill 11,64 Kewell 24, Holman 45)

Two goals from Tim Cahill saw Australia make a winning start to their 2011 AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ campaign with a 4-0 victory over India at Al Sadd Stadium on Monday. 

Harry Kewell and Brett Holman also got on the score-sheet in a Group C encounter that Holger Osieck's side dominated throughout in stark contrast to their Asian Cup debut four years ago, when Cahill's stoppage-time equaliser scraped a 1-1 draw with Oman.

It took Australia just 11 minutes to break the deadlock. Brett Emerton collected the ball in acres of space down the right and advanced into the box unchallenged before his low cross picked out the onrushing Cahill and the Everton forward side-footed home with ease inside the six-yard box.

India looked to reply and NP Pradeep saw a long-range effort easily held by Mark Schwarzer before Climax Lawrence shoot horribly wide when he had time and space on the edge of the box.

Cahill had a header ruled out for offside and Kewell fired straight at keeper Subrata Paul from Holman's lay-off before the Galatasaray midfielder doubled Australia's advantage in the 25th minute with a fine effort.

Picking up Luke Wilkshire's short pass, he turned and took a couple of steps before unleashing a swerving low drive with his left foot form 25 yards that found the far bottom corner beyond a diving Paul.

Cahill then somehow contrived to waste a golden opportunity for his second goal on the half-hour mark when a deflected shot fell into his path three yards out but with just the keeper to beat, his weak poke hit Paul and spun wide.

The India custodian then did well to tip Cahill's dipping 25-yard snap effort over the bar after he had brought down a long diagonal ball on his chest with aplomb before Australia extended their lead in first-half stoppage time when Holman met Emerton's cross ahead of Paul to nod in the third.

A slick Australia move ended with Cahill scuffing a shot wide of the far post nine minutes into the second period and Emerton was also off target as Australia continued to dominate.

Cahill eventually claimed his second and Australia's fourth when he rose highest to meet a free-kick from the right and planted a header into the far corner. Kewell then almost grabbed his second but a curling shot was just the wrong side of the post.

The game petered out after that although Sunil Chettri threatened a late consolation for India but was unable to control a long ball over the top and Schwarzer came out to smother as Bob Houghton's side were soundly beaten


Line Ups:


India: 01-Paul, 05-Anwar, 07-Pradeep, 11-Chhetri, 12-Mandal, 17-S.Singh, 18-Rafi, 19-G.Singh, 20-Lawrence, 22-Nabi, 23-Dias Subs Used: 08-R.Singh, 09-Yadav, 16-Wadoo
Australia: 01-Schwarzer, 02-Neill, 03-Carney, 04-Cahill, 05-Culina, 06-Ognenovski, 07-Emerton, 08-Wilkshire, 10-Kewell, 14-Holman, 15-Jedinak Subs Used: 09-McDonald, 11-Burns, 17-McKay

Australia 2 Serbia 1

Scorers: Cahill (Aus), Holman (Aus), Pantelic (Srb)

Attendance: 38836

Australia got the win they wanted in Nelspruit on Wednesday night, but not the number of goals they needed as the Socceroos were eliminated from Group D on goal difference behind Ghana. Germany, 1-0 winners over the Black Stars in Johannesburg, topped the group on six points, while the Aussies and Ghanaians finished on four and the Serbians three.

Budweiser Man of the Match Tim Cahill was back in the team, after being dismissed in the ultimately decisive 4-0 opening loss to the Germans, and it was the Everton man who scored the crucial opening goal of the match on 69 minutes. Substitute Brett Holman doubled the lead just four minutes later before Marko Pantelic pulled one back late on to set up a grandstand finish.

Both teams approached the encounter at the Mbombela Stadium knowing they needed to win and the game started at a high tempo. Serbia's Milos Krasic was an early danger down their right wing, testing goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer at his near post inside the first five minutes. In the 12th minute, Krasic had an even better chance when sprung free in the box by Milos Ninkovic's defence-splitting pass after an Australia corner, but the CSKA Moscow man took it too wide and could not get his shot on target around the advancing Schwarzer.

Krasic then turned provider, finding Zdravko Kuzmanovic streaking into the area, but he fired well wide when he might have done better in the 16th minute. Another pass from the right in the 23rd minute picked out Branislav Ivanovic, who pulled the ball back well from close range, but Schwarzer reacted quickly to save with his out-stretched left arm. The onslaught against Australia left-back David Carney continued in the 34th minute as Ivanovic crossed to a loosely marked Nikola Zigic, but the Serbia striker did not connect cleanly and the ball slid off his head. Four minutes later, Krasic did have the ball in the back of the Australian net, but he was narrowly offside.

The two best chances of the first half for the Asian Zone representatives fell to Cahill, but the Everton midfielder headed wide just after the half-hour mark and then lost his footing in the 39th minute after Carney had picked him out all alone in the middle of the Serbian box. But Pim Verbeek's side came out with more purpose in the second half and two long-range efforts put a lump in Serbian throats. First, Jason Culina blazed wide from 25 yards after the defence failed to clear a free-kick, and Bresciano then stung the goalkeeper's hands with a blast from just outside the area when given too much space.

And though the Serbians continued to create chances as well, with Zigic firing over from close range and Kuzmanovic heading over from near the penalty spot, it was the Aussies who found the net. Again talisman Cahill was the inspiration, showing more determination to leap over the defence and head in a long cross. As Serbia pushed for the equaliser, Australia produced another moment of brilliance, this time from Holman, who picked the ball up near his halfway line and screamed in a long-range shot low into Vladimir Stojkovic's goal.

With their South Africa 2010 hopes slipping away, the eastern Europeans battled forward and second-half substitute Zoran Tosic was a constant threat. It was his hard shot that was spilled by Schwarzer, and fellow substitute Pantelic was first to the ball for an easy score. Remarkably that meant that the Serbians could have gone through with another goal, but despite some goalmouth opportunities, they did not force a save from Schwarzer, although Culina did have a one-on-one bravely saved by Stojkovic at the other end in the final moments.