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BBCSport |
Fulham 1 - 0 Swindon
Bobby Zamora's 11th goal of the season was enough for Fulham to hold off a spirited fight by League One Swindon Town in the FA Cup third round
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Zamora struck on 16 minutes, latching on to Stephen Kelly's long ball and flicking neatly past David Lucas.
Lucas kept Swindon in it when he saved Andy Johnson's second-half penalty after escaping a red card for hauling down the former England striker.
Swindon had spells of possession but Simon Ferry wasted their best chance.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson - fresh from signing a new 12-month contract in the week - was able to hand a first start since October to fit-again striker Johnson.
That change restored Johnson's partnership with Zamora, who has been touted as an outside bet for Fabio Capello's England World Cup squad.
And the pairing was quick to click once more, Zamora threatening inside two minutes when he dummied and fired wide from 10 yards before opening the scoring on 16 minutes for his sixth goal in seven games.
Stephen Kelly's long ball sent the former Spurs striker clear and he held off Gordon Greer before neatly flicking past a helpless Lucas.
The early setback was a body blow for the Wiltshire side but Danny Wilson's Robins are in a good run of form themselves having lost only once in their last 11 games and they responded well against the in-form Premier League side.
Ferry had already snatched at his early opportunity, sending his shot high and into the 6,500 travelling fans behind Mark Schwarzer's goal, before the Australian keeper was forced into a smart save from Billy Paynter.
Paynter saw another shot apparently deflect over the crossbar, but failed to get the corner his effort merited, and the League One side's spirited response was almost punctured on the stroke of half-time as Fulham's dangerous strike duo wasted two glorious chances in the space of a minute.
First, Zamora found himself unmarked from a well-worked short corner routine and should have done better than to head over, then Johnson escaped the attention of two defenders before firing a fierce shot that flew inches wide.
Swindon's period of possession continued after the break as Wilson's hard-working side took the game to a team 41 places above them in the football hierarchy, but their final ball continually let them down.
And Fulham wasted a string of chances to put the tie beyond doubt as Lucas saved well to deny Johnson on the hour, before an even more crucial stop two minutes later.
Lucas feared the worst when he hauled down Johnson for a clear penalty as the striker looked to shoot, but escaped with a booking and made the most of the reprieve by diving to his left to keep out Johnson's spot-kick.
The former Crystal Palace hit-man showed no lasting effects from the groin injury that has kept him out for more than two months and saw another stinging shot fly just off target before making way for Zoltan Gera late on.
Despite the narrow margin Fulham always appeared comfortable, though Schwarzer was forced into a late save from Jon-Paul McGovern's free-kick as Swindon went down fighting.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson:
"Chris Smalling did well for us again, the game suited him.
"I thought we were the most dangerous in front of goal - we should have scored the second goal with the likes of (Andy) Johnson and (Clint) Dempsey.
"(Bobby) Zamora was angry for not scoring the first chance which he set up for himself early on - it was a very fine strike and throughout the game I thought he did well.
"The play between the two of our centre forwards was quite good, in fact, in the second-half some of our play was as good as it gets."
Swindon boss Danny Wilson:
"Chris Smalling was excellent last week at Chelsea and he was fantastic today so they have a good player on their books here at Fulham.
"It was a big decision to bring him here from non-league football and I think Roy (Hodgson) has got it spot on."
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