Fulham 3-0 West Brom
Whilst Fulham did start the Premier League season excellently destroying the hapless Norwich 5-0, they had struggled in their following 2 games losing to both Manchester United and West Ham in successive weeks. They bounced back well however to inflict their first Premier League defeat of the season on to an off colour West Brom.
Before the season many worried about Fulham's goal scoring threat though they added well to their team over the summer and appear to have signed up a number of threatening players, none more well known than Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov.
It was to be Berbatov who stole the headlines here, netting his first Fulham goal in the 32nd minute to finish off an excellent run by team mate Alex Kacaniklic. West Brom didn't look their usual selves and it showed as the usually mild mannered Peter Odemwingie was sent off for kicking out at Sascha Riether putting West Brom at an even bigger disadvantage. It didn't take long for Fulham to effectively finish off the game as Berbatov netted a second from the spot.
Despite being 2-0 up Fulham kept control of the match well with Berbatov showing just how good he really is as he held up the ball and acted as a focal point for all of the Fulham attacks sadly however he failed to complete his hat-trick. It didn't however stop Fulham from netting a 3rd with Steve Sidwell tapping in from close range late on to seal all 3 points.
Fulham boss Martin Jol will be really pleased by just how good his team looked here following their 2 losses in their past 2 matches. The ability, strength and size of the Berbatov really allows Fulham so many options up front and with the likes of Mladen Petric, Damien Duff and Alex Kacaniklic they are a genuinely threatening team up front with several different options. I'd be genuinely shocked if Fulham weren't a team challenging for a Europa League position by the end of the season.
Whilst the result certainly wasn't great for West Brom, it was perhaps a dose of reality for Steve Clark who had taken a remarkable 7 points from his first 3 Premier League games in charge. Odemwingie's sending off was a moment of sheer madness (and something he has apologised for) though it was the fact that the Baggies simply couldn't handle Kacaniklic and Berbatov that really made the difference. West Brom have a lot of promise and hopefully this match will have awoken their eyes to the fact they need to play well to continue to get results.
Showing posts with label Martin Jol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martin Jol. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up West Ham v Fulham
West Ham 3-0 Fulham
What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago West Ham were humiliated by Swansea 3-0 though this weekend, with new loan signing Andy Carroll up top, West Ham looked a completely different side.
Going into this match up the sub story was that of two strikers. Andy Carroll who had joined West Ham from Liverpool on loan for the rest of the season and Dimitar Berbatov who had been signed by Fulham from Manchester United, though only one of them started and only one of him had any real say in the match.
Whilst Carroll may have been a £30+ million flop at Liverpool he made an immediate impact for West Ham setting up Kevin Nolan inside a minute as the Hammer's took an early lead. It wasn't long until Carroll was involved again...and again. Through out the first half West Ham kept hitting it up and Carroll kept winning the ball time and time again as he frustrated and irritated a Fulham defense that looked petrified.
It was due to the clear fear in the Fulham defense that West Ham netted their second goal. After a cross was cut out for a Hammer corner the Fulham defense were at 6's and 7's and Winston Reid charged through the area to net a thunderbolt header to dobule the lead with less than half an hour gone. By then it seemed as if West Ham were in control and just over 10 minutes later they secured the 3 points after the ball was have cleared to Matt Taylor who's shot just seemed to split the Fulham defense.
Despite having the 3 points in the bag West Ham didn't have the perfect afternoon as both Andy Carroll and Guy Demel limped off in the second half, however Carroll seemed to be taken off more a precautionary messaure than anything too serious. For Big Sam it wasn't just the performance of Carroll that will have pleased him but the whole squad. Kevin Nolan's role in the team was again crucial to the Hammers positives, and he's now netted his second of the season and Ricardo Vaz Te looked exceptional. With both Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun expected to be in the West Ham squad for their next match we may well see West Ham looking more and more like a team that have the quality to stay up.
Fulham's Martin Jol will certainly be very unhappy at his side who didn't look like a side who opened their Premier League season with a 5-0 win. They looked terrified at the back and up front they looked toothless barring the occassional flash from Damien Duff and second half substitute Dimitar Berbatov (who aside from one or two moments was anonymous). The few positives that Jol can take from the game are that Keiran Richardson looked pretty creative and Steve Sidwell never gave up on the match despite being out numbered and out played in the middle. A poor performance and a poor result for Fulham.
What a difference a week makes. Just a week ago West Ham were humiliated by Swansea 3-0 though this weekend, with new loan signing Andy Carroll up top, West Ham looked a completely different side.
Going into this match up the sub story was that of two strikers. Andy Carroll who had joined West Ham from Liverpool on loan for the rest of the season and Dimitar Berbatov who had been signed by Fulham from Manchester United, though only one of them started and only one of him had any real say in the match.
Whilst Carroll may have been a £30+ million flop at Liverpool he made an immediate impact for West Ham setting up Kevin Nolan inside a minute as the Hammer's took an early lead. It wasn't long until Carroll was involved again...and again. Through out the first half West Ham kept hitting it up and Carroll kept winning the ball time and time again as he frustrated and irritated a Fulham defense that looked petrified.
It was due to the clear fear in the Fulham defense that West Ham netted their second goal. After a cross was cut out for a Hammer corner the Fulham defense were at 6's and 7's and Winston Reid charged through the area to net a thunderbolt header to dobule the lead with less than half an hour gone. By then it seemed as if West Ham were in control and just over 10 minutes later they secured the 3 points after the ball was have cleared to Matt Taylor who's shot just seemed to split the Fulham defense.
Despite having the 3 points in the bag West Ham didn't have the perfect afternoon as both Andy Carroll and Guy Demel limped off in the second half, however Carroll seemed to be taken off more a precautionary messaure than anything too serious. For Big Sam it wasn't just the performance of Carroll that will have pleased him but the whole squad. Kevin Nolan's role in the team was again crucial to the Hammers positives, and he's now netted his second of the season and Ricardo Vaz Te looked exceptional. With both Matt Jarvis and Yossi Benayoun expected to be in the West Ham squad for their next match we may well see West Ham looking more and more like a team that have the quality to stay up.
Fulham's Martin Jol will certainly be very unhappy at his side who didn't look like a side who opened their Premier League season with a 5-0 win. They looked terrified at the back and up front they looked toothless barring the occassional flash from Damien Duff and second half substitute Dimitar Berbatov (who aside from one or two moments was anonymous). The few positives that Jol can take from the game are that Keiran Richardson looked pretty creative and Steve Sidwell never gave up on the match despite being out numbered and out played in the middle. A poor performance and a poor result for Fulham.
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Manchester United v Fulham
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up Fulham v Norwich
Fulham 5-0 Norwich
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
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