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Bjarne
Goldbaek handed Fulham the lead before half-time against Bolton
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Fulham (1) 3 Bolton Wanderers (0) 0
Fulham announced large losses off the pitch on Tuesday but the on pitch results
were a perfect antidote. Their largest league win of the season guaranteed another
year of Premiership football and with it millions of pounds.
After the struggles experienced by Jean Tigana's expensively assembled squad,
it was ironic on the night which confirmed survival that their outstanding performer
was a little-used midfielder who cost £650,000.
Bjarne Goldbaek's display made it hard to fathom why he had last started in January.
He handed Fulham an undeserved lead shortly before the interval. Further strikes
by Steve Marlet and Barry Hayles capped an improved, ultimately impressive second
half from Tigana's team.
Defeat for Ipswich tonight at home to Middlesbrough will keep Sam Allardyce's
team up but the manager said he was too nervous to follow events there. He was
left to rue his side's failure to capitalise on their dominance during the first
half.
Bolton were twice denied by Edwin van der Sar, saw a shot deflected wide and wasted
another opening. Allardyce also felt his team should have had a penalty when Kevin
Nolan fell under a challenge by Sylvain Legwinski. But replays suggested Paul
Durkin was right to wave play on.
"If we had gone in 1-0 up I don't think we would have lost," Allardyce said. "Now,
instead of being more relaxed, the nerve ends are jangling a bit because our last
two games - Arsenal at home and West Ham away - are very, very difficult."
He probably need not worry given that Ipswich need seven points from games against
Boro, Liverpool and Manchester United to stand any chance of overhauling Bolton.
Yet he cannot hope to secure the future of the on-loan Youri Djorkaeff or Fredi
Bobic while relegation is possible.
| 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 |
Although Fulham no longer have such concerns, there will be no let-up. They still
hope to qualify for the Intertoto Cup, though they looked well short of Uefa Cup
quality for most of the opening 45 minutes after a high-tempo start and a brief
flurry of neat passing.
Their fluency degenerated and, as so often, they struggled to create clear opportunities.
It was against the run of play that they took the lead, although Hayles had hit
the bar minutes earlier. A Steed Malbranque corner was punched to the edge of
the box by Jussi Jaaskelainen and Goldbaek scored with a low first-time shot.
Bolton lost their cutting edge after the interval and it took Fulham a further
20 minutes to spring fully into life. After Sean Davis had gone close, the substitute
Marlet hit a fine left-foot curler beyond Jaaskelainen from the edge of the area
and Hayles burst into the box and finished with a lot shot.
Fulham could relax. A day which started with a drink- driving conviction for Davis
and news of those losses had ended in the best possible fashion.
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