Fulham squeezed past Crystal Palace at Motspur Park today after a first half Peter Moller strike and a second half Nicolas Sahnoun penalty without ever really breaking sweat.
On paper it looked as though it could be a rout, with Fulham fielding a side capable of beating most First Division first team sides. Palace, on the other hand, unsurprisingly followed in the footsteps of their first team, fielding a young side that could have been mistaken as an under-16 team. Neil Ruddock was the only exception.
The game started off brightly enough. On four minutes Sahnoun had a 30 yard free kick tipped nervously over the bar when it looked easier to catch. Ruddock went down the other end minutes later and had a 30 yard drive sail harmlessly wide. He was to be Palace's main supplier, raking long balls from the back with mixed fortune.
The best chance of the half came on 15 minutes. Simon Morgan played the ball to Moller’s feet who played the ball first time to the ever-running Eddie Lewis. He took the ball down the left side, got to the byline and crossed with his weaker right foot. Andrejs Stolcers collected the ball and laid it back to Karl Heinz Riedle who smashed over from six yards. A conspicuous look at the pitch quickly followed.
The breakthrough did come however ten minutes later. Pacey American International winger Lewis, who was a thorn in the Palace defense’s side all day, again broke down the left hand side and crossed for an eagerly awaiting Peter Moller. He turned on the six yard box and bullied his way past two defenders, sending a low left footed shot past the keepers left hand side into the net off the far post.
Palace’s reply was to push forward a little but they never looked like threatening Marcus Hahnemann’s goal, Alan Neilson marshalling the defense with authority.
At half time, the Fulham management team of Steve Kean and Christian Damiano decided to give Morgan a breather and replaced him with Zat Knight. Kevin Betsy also came on for the nervy Mark Hudson at right back.
Fulham continued to look for Lewis down the left hand side, the ineffective Stolcers seeing little of the ball down the right. Fabrice Fernandes and Sahnoun showed flashes of what they can do with intricate little flicks here and there. They both looked as if they were trying to show the management what they can do, when maybe they would have been better off playing the ball simple. Paul Trollope had a solid game at left back, feeding Lewis on a number of occasions.
However it was Trollope who almost undid all of his good work by losing possession on the half way line. His sloppy pass found its way to a Palace substitute whose first time effort had Hahnemann scrambling across his goal line. He was relieved to see the ball go inches wide.
This spurred Fulham into action. Moller was put through clean on goal, Palace’s high offside trap failing to do its job and he took the ball past the onrushing keeper who clumsily brought him down inside the box. The sympathetic referee took pity on the keeper and let him stay on the pitch after awarding the penalty. Sahnoun was not quite so generous though. He stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to double the lead with fifteen minutes remaining.
The match ended on a sour note however as Sahnoun was caught late, high up on his right thigh, by the Palace number seven. The referee decided he had to go. Sahnoun also left the pitch He was on a stretcher though, off to hospital for an x-ray. The referee did not take into account the fact that it had been a clean game up until this point. Having said that, the Palace player could have no complaints about his dismissal.
Gary McCracken replaced Sahnoun, the game regrettably ending on a sour note.
Source fulham fc by Matthew Stevens