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Fulham manager Martin Jol happy with win

last updated Sunday 30th October 2011, 3:31 PM


Fulham manager Martin Jol
Fulham manager
Martin Jol
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Martin Jol
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Fulham manager Martin Jol felt the pain of his opposite number Roberto Martinez after Wigan dominated proceedings at the DW Stadium but still slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Fulham.

It was an eighth successive defeat for the Latics, who now sit bottom of the Barclays Premier League table having failed to collect a single point in September or October.

Fulham were also on a run of three straight losses and without an away win this season, but they put that right thanks to goals late in each half from Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele.

Cottagers boss Jol has bemoaned his side's failure to take their chances in recent games, particularly last week against Everton when Bobby Zamora missed an open goal in the 89th minute with the scores level only for the Toffees to snatch the win.

"It was totally different from the other games this season," said Jol.

"Everybody felt we were in the wrong position (in the table), and Wigan have probably learned the same lesson that we have learned, that if you don't score then you don't get the points.

"It was the same situation we had last week. They could have scored, then on the break we scored our goal. In the 89th minute we could have scored a winner twice, then Everton scored.

"That was an awful feeling and Wigan probably have the same feeling today."

After a slow start to the game, Wigan gradually began to take control, and they twice came close just before the half-hour mark, first when Ben Watson's shot was tipped over the bar by Mark Schwarzer before Gary Caldwell headed the resulting corner over when he really should have scored.

Wigan paid for that miss in the 41st minute when Dempsey put Fulham ahead, finishing off a quick break involving Danny Murphy and Zamora.

Victor Moses had another effort that just drifted past the post before the break, and nine minutes after it the midfielder really deserved better when he let fly with a stunning 25-yard volley that had Schwarzer beaten but came back off the angle of post and bar.

Zamora then hit the bar for Fulham but Wigan continued to press, and Maynor Figueroa's swerving shot bounced off a post before Dembele made sure of the points in the 85th minute with a low shot after the home defence had backed off.

It was a familiar story for Wigan boss Martinez, who knows he will need all his players to redouble their efforts if they are to put an end to their miserable run soon.

The Spaniard said: "I was delighted with the performance but it was a day when the result was very, very important because of the run of negative results that we've had.

"I felt we stopped Fulham from showing any sort of creativity, and they've got really creative players.

"You look at all the stats after the game and, from restricting Fulham to one corner, to maybe four shots, to lose 2-0 with the amount we created in the last third is disappointing.

"From a tactical and technical point of view, it will be difficult to explain the result, but I think it's quite clear emotionally and at the moment we're in, we don't have any momentum and we're getting heavily punished.

"It's not a moment to feel sorry for yourself or blame other people, it's a moment for everybody to improve individually an extra 5% and make sure we get the first win as soon as we can.

"With the effort they put in, the players don't deserve to be on this run of defeats."

Martinez, meanwhile, was upset with referee Mike Jones after Mohamed Diame suffered a potentially serious ankle injury when he was twice the victim of heavy early challenges from Zdenek Grygera, who was booked, and Steve Sidwell.

"He had a really tough 30 seconds with two shocking challenges," said Martinez.

"He was fortunate in the first one and it was unfortunate Mike Jones did not protect him after that shocking challenge.

"It's a twisted ankle. We'll do the scan tomorrow and see if it's a ligament tear, but if it is it's going to be a really long period."





















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