A ruthless bit of finishing from Barry Hayles and a brilliant breakaway goal by Steed Malbranque saw Fulham wrap up a comfortable 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers that plunged the visitors further into relegation trouble at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
In a lively opening to an end-to-end encounter, former Fulham forward Andrew Cole and centre back Henning Berg both hit the woodwork for Blackburn before French forward Steve Marlet was denied a Fulham opener by the post at the other end. The home side played the more fluent football and went in front just after the half hour mark when referee Mark Halsey played a good advantage rather than penalise Berg for handball. Marlet won possession from Tugay in central midfield, worked a one-two with Hayles from which he went on to find space on the right and whip over a cross that Berg handled in the area. As the linesman flagged for a penalty, Halsey allowed Hayles to fire home from seven yards.
Jean Tigana’s men came close to extending their advantage before the interval. Brad Friedel, who had earlier made a brave block from Marlet’s half-volley, did brilliantly to turn away a Malbranque free-kick from twenty yards. The visitors could count themselves unfortunate not to be at least level at the end of an enthralling first half after Cole, who spent time on loan at Craven Cottage in the early 1990s, battered the far post with an effort from fourteen yards after breezing away from Alain Goma and saw the loose ball land in Edwin van der Sar’s hands. van der Sar then brilliantly turned Berg’s volley from from a Damien Duff corner onto the crossbar and Fulham emerged unscathed.
The hosts rode their luck again early in the second half when Damien Dunn timed his run from midfield brilliantly to meet a floated cross from Duff but contrived to send a free header well wide of goal. Malbranque punished that miss by providing Fulham with real breathing space just after the hour mark. The French under-21 midfielder collected a clearance from Sylvain Legwinski and found Marlet out on the right flank. He then sprinted nearly fifty yards to keep on the end of his compatriot’s cross and measured a volley past Friedel’s despairing dive.
Fulham might have made the scoreline far more convincing in the closing stages. Friedel pulled off a fine smothering save to keep out Marlet’s close range volley shortly afterwards and Malbranque continued to lead the visiting defence a merry dance for the rest of the afternoon. Blackburn’s frustration only increased when van der Sar kept out a drive from distance by Craig Hignett and Cole lost his composure from eight yards out, missing the target with the goal gaping. To round off a miserable afternoon for Rovers, Craig Short saw red in stoppage time for elbowing Marlet in the face.
FULHAM (4-4-2): van der Sar; Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Goma; Davis, Collins, Malbranque, Legwinski; Marlet (Willock 90), Hayles. Subs (not used): Taylor, Ouaddoh, Harley, Saha.
BOOKED: Malbranque, Marlet, Melville.
GOALS: Hayles (32), Malbranque (62).
BLACKBURN ROVERS (4-4-2): Friedel; Neill (Gillespie 69), Curtis (Hignett 68), Berg, Short; Tugay, Duff, Dunn, Taylor; Jansen (Johansonn 90), Cole. Subs (not used): Kelly, Hughes.
BOOKED: Neill, Tugay.
SENT OFF: Short.
REFEREE: Mark Halsey (Welwyn Garden City)
ATTENDANCE: 19,580.
