Fulham took out their Second Division frustrations on a beleaguered Burnley by making amends for two league defeats in a row with a 4-0 crushing of the Clarets at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Whites put together a sublime exhibition of first-class finishing to move back up to second in the table and put themselves firmly in the promotion picture. Fulham stalwart Simon Morgan, a veteran of more than 350 appearances for the club, scored twice in the first half before strikes from their multi-million pound strikers Barry Hayles and Paul Peschisolido showed exactly why Burnley have the worst defensive record away from home in the division.
Such was Fulham’s dominance that Kevin Keegan felt his side should have won by more. He told his post-match press conference: “If you want to nit pick we should have scored a lot more goals. We took our chances but once we’d won the game with our third, it was a case of players having too many options. Simon Morgan got us going with his two goals.”
The home crowd were getting restless as Fulham had little to show for their dominance of possession before Morgan broke the deadlock just before the half hour mark. The man whose name has become synonymous with the Cottagers over the past decade celebrated deliriously after connecting with a cross from Neil Smith. He quickly made it two by pouncing on some pathetic defending from a Steve Hayward corner, thrashing home a loose ball from close range.
But it was worth waiting for to see Morgan head home Smith’s cross.
Barry Hayles then ended his long wait for a first Fulham goal by finding the back of net with a left-footed drive after being played in by strike partner Paul Peschisoldio twelve minutes after the interval. It was Peschisolido who completed the rout with a superb solo strike to underline why the Whites will prove tough to stop this season.
Hayles scored shortly before the hour with his first goal since his pounds 2m move from Bristol Rovers
FULHAM (4-4-2): Taylor; Uhlenbeek, Brevett, Symons, Coleman; Smith (Keller 75), Morgan, Hayward; Horsfield (Salako 85), Peschisolido. Subs (not used): Trollope.
BOOKED: Brevett, Morgan.
GOALS: Morgan (27, 38), Hayles (57), Peschisolido (73).
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Crichton; Brass, O’Kane, Heywood, Reid; Hewlett (Maylett 45), Ford, Robinson, Armstrong; Payton, Cooke (Henderson 73). Subs (not used): Eastwood.
BOOKED: Brass.
REFEREE: Ray Olivier (Sutton Coldfield).
ATTENDANCE: 9,987
