Fulham moved into ninth place in the Premier League with a
comfortable 3-0 win over Burnley at Craven Cottage on Tuesday
night.
First-half goals from Danny Murphy and David Elm put the home
side in control and Bobby Zamora wrapped up all three points with a
second-half free-kick.
Burnley, who have yet to win away this season, remain close
to the relegation zone.
Fulham engineered the first chance of the game in the seventh
minute when Damien Duff's cross shot only just evaded the far post
and the waiting Simon Davies.
Duff should have done much better when he got clear of the
Burnley defence five minutes later but his cross from the touchline
fell behind all the onrushing Fulham attackers.
Burnley responded with Andre Bikey trying his luck from 30
yards. However, his weak effort was well wide of the target.
There was little to enthuse about in a dull opening period
although Duff continued to threaten for the home side.
In the 21st minute, Elm tried to curl the ball around Brian
Jensen but the Burnley goalkeeper held the ball at the second
attempt.
But captain Murphy broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. A
cross from Nicky Shorey was headed into his path by Elm and the
Fulham midfielder applied a neat finish from six yards.
Burnley almost levelled from the restart but Steven
Fletcher's 20-yard angled drive flashed past Mark Schwarzer's
right-hand upright.
Dickson Utuhu was denied Fulham's second goal in the 28th
minute when his 20-yard shot was brilliantly pushed to safety by
Jensen.
But the second goal arrived in the 31st minute when Zamora
got the better of Leon Cort only to see his shot parried by Jensen.
However, Elm followed up to slip the loose ball beyond Jensen
from six yards for his first goal for the club.
Burnley boss Brian Laws immediately replaced Cort with Chris
Eagles.
In the 42nd minute the Clarets almost pulled a goal back when
a 25-yard free-kick from Tyrone Mears hit the angle of crossbar and
post.
But Fulham remained in charge and Elm could have added to his
tally had he not drifted offside moments later.
Zamora was a constant thorn in Burnley's side but required
much better support from the midfield.
Schwarzer was called upon to deal with a cross from Wade
Elliott in the 45th minute but the Fulham keeper had largely been
untroubled in the opening half.
Zamora should have made it three for Fulham five minutes
after the interval but his eight-yard shot was brilliantly saved by
Jensen.
Seconds later an attempted cross from Duff almost confused
Jensen and the Burnley keeper was relieved to see the ball drop
onto the top of the net.
But Burnley paid for some woeful defending in the 54th minute
when Zamora was fouled by David Edgar on the edge of the Fulham
penalty area.
The striker dusted himself down and curled a low free-kick
into the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-0 to the home side.
Fulham continued to dominate and Duff had a shot deflected
just wide in the 65th minute.
Elm and Zamora were forming a clever partnership in attack
and Burnley struggled to cope with their neat approach work.
In the 69th minute Murphy almost worked a shooting chance for
himself after threading his way through the Burnley defence but
Jensen smothered the danger.
Substitute Stefano Okaka should have made it 4-0 to Fulham in
the 78th minute but Jensen pulled off another fine save to deny
him.
Okaka then saw a 90th-minute shot flash just the wrong side
of the post as Fulham tried to finish with a flourish.
