London: Swansea completed their first run of three successive Premier League victories by beating Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage.
The Swans took the lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson's header before the Icelander netted another in the second-half after a lightning counter and Joe Allen notched a third.
Martin Jol made two changes to his Fulham side after their late defeat to Aston Villa last weekend, Mahamadou Diarra and Bryan Ruiz replacing Danny Murphy and Damien Duff.
Swansea were forced to make a change to the line-up that beat Manchester City as Ashley Williams, missing his first Premier League game of the season due to a virus, was replaced by Garry Monk.
The game started openly, Danny Graham firing a snap-shot at Mark Schwarzer before Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele drew smart saves from Michel Vorm in the Swans' goal.
The Swans' customary passing accuracy was lacking in the final third and the Cottagers looked to take advantage with stylish play of their own, John Arne Riise curling a 25-yard effort over.
The game's first clear opening fell to the away side, Allen released Angel Rangel down the right-hand side and the Spaniard pulled the ball back to Sigurdsson just inside the area but the Hoffenheim loanee dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Graham then charged down a clearance by Schwarzer which fell to Scott Sinclair, the former Chelsea man scurrying past Phillipe Senderos before the big Australian 'keeper redeemed himself with a good save when one-on-one.
The away side's pressure finally told as Pavel Pogrebnyak gave the ball away in midfield and the ball was quickly worked to Wayne Routledge who whipped a ball across the face of goal, Sinclair touched the ball back to Sigurdsson and his close-range diving header nestled in the Fulham net.
Pogrebnyak and Andy Johnson were feeding off scraps up front for Fulham and Dempsey headed over late in the first half from a corner and the side's went in at half-time with Swansea looking good for a rare away win.
Fulham were unable to seize the initiative after the break and made a change after just seven second-half minutes, taking the frustrating Ruiz off and replacing him with Damien Duff.
The Irishman's introduction immediately injected some much-needed urgency into the Cottagers' attack as he surged through midfield but hit an effort well over Vorm's crossbar.
The Swans' were continuing to play attractive football in deep positions but Graham was cutting an increasingly isolated figure up front as Fulham continued to press in their search for an equaliser.
Duff again went close before being shut out in the area by Steven Caulker before Riise's volley from the edge of the area was blocked by Leon Britton.
Despite the Cottagers' increased pressure, it was Swansea who scored next as they showed excellent counter-attacking qualities. Sigurdsson bringing the ball through midfield before exchanging passes with Routledge and slamming his second of the afternoon past Schwarzer.
Fulham were looking completely out of sorts, and Jol replaced Diarra and Johnson with, club captain, Murphy and Kerim Frei as he desperately searched for a way back into a game that was quickly slipping away from him.
Things only got worse though as Senderos gifted the ball to Sinclair who switched the ball to Allen, the Wales international driving forward, as the Swiss defender slipped, and drove the ball past Schwarzer from the edge of the area.
The home side continued to push for a consolation goal as Dempsey saw his superb volley tipped onto the crossbar by Vorm and Pogrebnyak's fierce effort flew over.
Fulham couldn't find a way past Vorm though as the Swans secured a 12th clean sheet of the season, bettered only by Manchester City and United, to move into eighth in the Premier League, while the Cottagers dropped into the bottom half.
Comments
0 comment