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Fulham French International striker Steve Marlet scores an outstanding
goal with a delicate curled left-foot shot
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Fulham (1) 3 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0
Fulham guaranteed their place in the Premiership in the penultimate match at Craven
Cottage but it was hardly what Fulham's upwardly mobile followers or chairman
had in mind at the start of the season, but they were grateful enough to
do so by a flattering margin last night.
After three successive home defeats, Jean Tigana's team were as edgy as the crowd
until Steve Marlet and Barry Hayles added two quick goals in the last 20 minutes
to Bjarne Goldbaek's strike shortly before half-time.
That added up to Fulham's biggest victory of a League campaign that seemed to
lose direction amid the run to the FA Cup semi-final, but could still bring a
place in the Intertoto Cup, ahead of Aston Villa and Everton.
It was hard on Bolton, who will nevertheless be mathematically safe if Ipswich
lose at home to Middlesbrough this evening or Manchester United on Saturday. Their
manager, Sam Allardyce, remains nervous. "We've got two extremely difficult games,
against Arsenal and West Ham," he said. "I should be sat here looking forward
to my holidays, but I'm not."
It should only be a matter of time and survival will be a notable achievement.
As the First Division play-off winners 11 months ago, Bolton were hardly expected
to keep pace with Fulham and Blackburn, the two infinitely better off clubs who
accompanied them into the Premiership. Yet here they were, going into last night's
programme bunched together with the recipients of the largess of Mohamed Al Fayed
and the late Jack Walker.
The visitors were the more threatening team until falling behind. Fredi Bobic
should have scored in the first minute and Youri Djorkaeff, another of Bolton's
foreign loanees, curled a free-kick past a post after being fouled by Rufus Brevett.
| Match Stats |
Fulham |
Bolton |
| Goal attempts |
12 |
7 |
| On Target |
7 |
2 |
| Hit woodwork |
1 |
3 |
| Fouls |
5 |
9 |
| Offsides |
3 |
4 |
| Corners |
5 |
0 |
| Yellows |
0 |
0 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: www.sports.com |
Fulham finally pulled themselves together five minutes before the break, hitting
the crossbar and then scoring in quick succession. The Finnish goalkeeper Jussi
Jaaskelainen was at fault on both occasions. First he threw the ball straight
to Louis Saha, whose pass gave Hayles the chance to lob on to the bar. Then from
Steed Malbranque's corner, the goalkeeper produced a feeble punch out, before
pushing Goldbaek's 25-yard drive into his net.
It was the former Chelsea man's first goal in 15 appearances this season and he
might have scored again 60 seconds after the break. A turn of pace took him clear
of Gudni Bergsson's challenge, but Jaaskelainen partially redeemed himself with
a good block.
Bolton, having pushed the hard-working Djorkaeff further forward, were beginning
to fade and Sean Davis, who had spent the morning in court receiving a year's
ban for a drink-driving offence, was unlucky with a clever chip.
Marlet, on as a substitute for Saha with a delicate curled left-foot shot, and
then Hayles made the game and Fulham's status safe with two goals in five minutes.
Never mind the debts, check the League table.
Fulham:
Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Goma, Malbranque (Stolcers 85), Legwinski,
Goldbaek, Davis (Taylor 81), Saha (Marlet 58), Hayles.
Subs Not Used: Collins, Knight.
Goals: Goldbaek 42, Marlet 72, Hayles 76.
Bolton:
Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Bergsson, Nolan, Barness, Charlton, Frandsen, Djorkaeff,
Southall (Espartero 67), Bobic (Ricketts 75), Wallace (Holdsworth 74).
Subs Not Used: Poole, Konstantinidis.
Att: 18,107 Ref: P Durkin (Dorset).