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Matt Hughes at The Times |
Fulham 4 Notts County 0
Fulham overpower Notts County as Roy Hodgson's magic touch continues in cups
For a man who made no secret at the start of this season of his plan to make survival in the Barclays Premier League his priority to the detriment of attractions elsewhere, Roy Hodgson is doing awfully well in the cups.
Fulham were already looking forward to welcoming Shakhtar Donetsk to Craven Cottage in the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday and can now add an FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur or Bolton Wanderers next month to their packed diary.
With the prosaic goal of Premier League existence all but secured, this could turn out to be a season of glorious diversion after all.
The financial necessity of staging both semi-finals at the national stadium means that Fulham are 90 minutes away from their first visit to Wembley since the 1975 FA Cup Final defeat by West Ham United, although they have squandered similar opportunities before.
In last season's sixth round, they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Manchester United, but recovered to beat the eventual champions in the Premier League a fortnight later, demonstrating they are not always overawed by big occasions.
Fulham have enjoyed rousing league victories this season over United and Liverpool, although even the manager has been surprised by their ability to compete so strongly in several competitions, particularly given recent injuries to Andrew Johnson and Clint Dempsey, two of their key forwards.
"I thought we'd suffer more from tiredness," Hodgson said.
"The question at the start of the season was, 'Did we have the experience and the squad to fight on so many fronts?' That was a very valid question and I didn't know the answer, so I've been more than satisfied.
"It would mean a lot to us to get to Wembley.
It would be a major step forward in the progression we're trying to make at this club.
Come the quarter-final we'll be highly motivated."
This was a classic cup-tie victory, which was somewhat flattering - Dave Kevan, the Notts County manager, noted - but bodes well for Fulham's future adventures.
In the first half at least, the visiting team competed bravely to give their 4,000 travelling fans reasons to believe, but somehow they were 2-0 down.
Fulham's only obvious superiority to a side 65 places below them lay in the quality of their finishing.
Danny Murphy created the first out of nothing in the 22nd minute, catching the County defence by surprise with an outrageous lob from halfway to Simon Davies.
The former Tottenham Hotspur midfield player controlled neatly before beating Kasper Schmeichel at his far post.
Fulham's second 19 minutes later was even more exquisite, as Nicky Shorey chipped the ball from the left to David Elm, whose first-time flick was chested down by Bobby Zamora and unleashed past Schmeichel on the volley for his thirteenth goal of the season.
Many more finishes of that quality and Hodgson's claims that he should play for England will be greeted with rather less scorn.
The shell-shocked County were deserving of considerable sympathy because, in keeping with their off-field plight, much promise faded away to nothing.
Mark Schwarzer had been by far the busier goalkeeper and was required to make two outstanding saves before the Fulham goals, tipping a drive by Ben Davies over the bar and getting down low to his left to block a powerful shot from Craig Westcarr.
Fulham extended their finishing lesson in the second half, with Damien Duff and Stefano Okaka, a substitute, finding the net six minutes apart, the latter scoring his first goal for the club since sealing his loan deal from Roma.
The burly Lee Hughes toiled away for the visiting team for no reward, even when he was joined by an equally bald but diminutive substitute, Luke Rodgers, who resembled Mini-Me to the former West Bromwich Albion striker's Dr Evil.
Even megalomaniac villains are no match for Hodgson, a very English hero.
Fulham (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 7 - C Baird 6, B Hangeland 6, A Hughes 6, N Shorey 6 - S Davies 6, D Etuhu 5, D Murphy 7 (sub: J Greening, 70min), D Duff 6 (sub: B H Riise, 76) - D Elm 6, R Zamora 7 (sub: S Okaka, 76).
Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, E Nevland, F Stoor, C Smalling, J Greening.
Notts County (4-1-4-1): K Schmeichel 5 - J Thompson 5, M Edwards 5, S Hunt 6, J Jackson 5 - J Clapham 5 (sub: L Rodgers, 62 5) - C Westcarr 6 (sub: K Hawley, 85), N Bishop 6, R Ravenhill 5, B Davies 6 - L Hughes 5 (sub: M Hamshaw, 85).
Substitutes not used: R Hoult, G Lee, B Fairclough, A Akinbiyi.
Referee: A Wiley.
Attendance: 16,132.
Source .