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Peter Scrivener at BBCSport |
Accrington Stanley 1 - 3 Fulham
Fulham survived a nervy first-half at the Crown Ground to move into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Accrington.
Cottagers keeper Mark Schwarzer denied Michael Symes and Sean McConville before Erik Nevland poked Fulham ahead.
Symes levelled after a scramble in the box but Darran Kempson collected a second yellow card before half-time.
And Fulham took advantage with Damien Duff scuffing in a left-foot shot and Zoltan Gera scoring on the break.
The scoreline was harsh on League Two Stanley who created numerous chances and could have been 2-0 up inside the opening 10 minutes.
Schwarzer tipped Symes' 25-year effort over the bar, while McConville tested the Australian keeper seconds later.
Fulham struggled to adapt to the uneven bounce but they took the lead on 20 minutes when Duff's near-post corner was flicked on by Gera and bundled in by Nevland.
Stanley deservedly levelled five minutes later when the ball found its way to top-scorer Symes after a goalmouth scramble and he tucked his 14th goal of the season into an unguarded net.
Robert Grant brought another save out of Schwarzer before the half-hour mark, but Stanley's hopes of reaching the fifth round for the first time in their history took a blow when Kempson was dismissed before the break.
Already booked for a challenge on Nevland, the defender then went right through Gera to put his team down to 10 men.
But Stanley continued to press after the break and came close to taking the lead when Grant flashed a first-time volley inches wide after good work from Symes.
That was the home side's last real attack as Premier League Fulham began to make their numerical advantage and superior fitness count.
A quick free-kick caught Stanley napping and Nevland flicked the ball on to Duff who raced through and although Dean Bouzanis got his left hand on the shot, the ball trickled in.
Stanley's keeper was becoming increasingly busy and he did well to tip a Nevland effort over before saving low down from the Norwegian striker.
But he was unable to stop Fulham from scoring a third when Gera guided Bjorn Helge Riise's cross in to clinch the victory.
Accrington manager John Coleman:
"I am disappointed with the result and with the three goals we conceded.
"We were the better team until they scored their second goal, but once we went down to 10 men we got a bit disjointed.
"They hadn't been anywhere near our goal until they scored that first goal, and that was disappointing, coming from a set play when we had worked on it.
"The second one was from a set play as well and that could have been stopped.
"But we have played them off the park in the first half and it is a bit of a travesty that we only went in at half-time level."
On the sending off, Coleman added: "I think the referee will have to assess his own performance and he will have people assessing him."
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson:
"I don't think we adapted very well to the conditions in the beginning of the game.
"A number of balls just ballooned into our final third. Accrington played a lot of football through the midfield and we weren't quite expecting that every ball would be lashed forward.
"They made life very difficult for us but in the second half we showed them more of our qualities and ended up winning the game relatively comfortably.
"All credit to Accrington for the magnificent show they put up."
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