Diomansy Kamara hit his first English hat trick to fire Fulham into the fourth round – and boss Mark Hughes now wants to go on and win it. The Whites were comfortable against lowly Peterborough, making it an unhappy return to Craven Cottage for Posh boss Gary Johnson, a boyhood Fulham fan.
Kamara scored before the break, then added two more in the second half and was joined on the scoresheet by Dickson Etuhu, Zoltan Gera and Jonathan Greening.
Now Sparky would love to add a winner’s medal as a manager to the four Wembley victories he enjoyed as a player with Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Craven Cottage boss said: “We want to have a good run in this competition, it is important for the team. We are playing well. We proceeded in the right way and picked a strong side because we are on a decent run and it was important for our continuity.”
Hughes named a first-choice squad – but they nearly came unstuck after just two minutes. Peterborough’s Arron Davies was left free to get a shot off which David Stockdale had to be quick to palm clear.
Posh were fearless in attack, as shown on 29 minutes by Lee Tomlin, who burst clear on the break only to fire wide with only Stockdale to beat.
Three minutes later Kamara settled the hosts’ nerves, as the Senegalese star nodded home unmarked from Chris Baird’s cross.
Etuhu made it two on the stroke of half-time, as he pounced on a loose ball to put daylight between the sides.
With the tie safe, Kamara started showboating after the break and almost added another with a cheeky backheel – before netting his second with a simple sidefoot on 59 minutes.
Sub Gera made it 4-0 on 66 minutes, before Tomlin got on the scoresheet, pulling one back five minutes later.
But Kamara was not done yet and he completed his hat-trick on 76 minutes with another easy shot from the edge of the area.
After Grant McCann slotted a penalty for Posh, Greening added Fulham’s sixth with a minute to go.
