Fulham eased its relegation worries with an emphatic 3-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Tuesday.
A goalkeeping blunder by Scott Carson allowed a dipping shot from Welsh midfielder Simon Davies to put Fulham ahead on the stroke of halftime and US striker Clint Dempsey rose to head home a corner in the 56th minute to make it 2-0.
Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland made sure of three points which lifted the west London club away from the relegation zone when he powered home another header in the 65th minute.
Fulham was without goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who was away on international duty, and injured striker Andrew Johnson but that gave Diomansy Kamara a chance against his old club. The Senegal striker almost blasted Fulham ahead in the opening minutes after a brilliant piece of control in the box.
Kamara pulled Chris Baird's long ball out of the air with a deft touch and turned to fire a low shot, which Carson did well to block.
West Brom had its moments in the first half and striker Peter Odemwingie forced Fulham keeper David Stockdale into action with a low deflected shot from the edge of the box.
But Fulham was on top of a lively encounter and the West Brom defence was struggling to contain Kamara, who laid an inviting ball off for Dempsey. The American went to ground in the box under a challenge from Youssuf Mulumbu but referee Martin Atkinson waved away Fulham's penalty appeals.
Dempsey had no better luck after doing well to ride two challenges and bring the ball down in the box, but his shot was blocked.
However, the breakthrough came with Davies' strike from around nearly 30 yards (meters) in first-half stoppage time. Carson, whose blunder against Croatia contributed to England failing to qualify for Euro 2008, got both hands to the shot but could only deflect the ball into his own net.
Davies' strike gave Fulham real impetus and the Welshman turned goalmaker after the restart when he swung over a corner and Dempsey planted his header past Carson. The American did particularly well to keep his eye on the ball as it flashed past Hangeland's towering leap.
And the next time Hangeland launched himself at a Davies corner, just nine minutes later, his timing and his aim were perfect. No one picked up the Norwegian's late run and he was left completely unmarked to beat Carson with a powerful header from close range as Fulham cruised to a first home win in six attempts.
