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The Guardian |
Fulham (3) 5-0 (0) Huddersfield
Fulham ended a run of six home league matches without a win as they thrashed promotion-chasing Huddersfield.
Chris Martin, Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon gave Fulham a 3-0 half-time lead. Martin, with a penalty, and Kevin McDonald added further strikes against the shellshocked Yorkshire club, but the star performer was Sone Aluko, who created three of the goals with his pace, skill and persistence.
The Fulham manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, was delighted that his team had finally won in front of their own supporters. He said: “We have shown we can play good football and keep clean sheets and that we can be more competitive.
“But the job is not done,” Jokanovic added. “We need to build on our confidence and philosophy. We are in a learning process and beginning to build some kind of identity.”
The Cottagers were ahead after only eight minutes. Stefan Johansen sent a high free-kick from the left to the far post, where the central defender Ragnar Sigurdsson had escaped his marker.
He nodded the ball back for Martin – also unmarked – to drive the ball low past the right hand of Danny Ward.
Huddersfield missed several good chances to hit back through a dangerous Aaron Mooy cross and a Tommy Smith header at the far post which went wide.
The visitors were left to rue those wasted opportunities when Fulham doubled their lead after 35 minutes.
Huddersfield’s central defender Christopher Schindler missed his header from Scott Malone’s cross and then Chris Löwe, who was standing behind Schindler, could only miscue the ball to Kalas, who struck home his first goal since joining Fulham on loan from Chelsea.
It was then 3-0 four minutes before the break. Aluko charged down the left and produced the most inviting of crosses that Piazon nodded past Ward.
Harry Bunn passed up a chance to reduce the arrears in the last minute of the first half when he headed Kasey Palmer’s cross wide under very little pressure. Palmer, lucky to avoid a red card for a wild first-half challenge on Ryan Fredericks, then brought an excellent save from David Button in the first minute of the second half.
However, Fulham went further ahead in the 63rd minute when Schindler brought down Aluko and Martin sent the penalty low past Ward’s right hand.
Three minutes later it was 5-0 as Aluko cut in from the right and found McDonald, who shot low into the net.
It was then nearly six for the home side but the substitute Tim Ream headed over from a yard out.
The Huddersfield manager, David Wagner, wrote off his side’s third defeat in four games as a bad day at the office. “I can leave this game very quickly behind us,” Wagner said.
“We don’t have to speak about any tactical problems because we had so many individual mistakes that you couldn’t get anything against any opponent. We lacked concentration and focus in easy situations.”
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