Fulham broke their Championship duck with a 1-1 draw against Cardiff, scoring their first goal at Craven Cottage this season. Here’s how we rated the Whites players.
Marcus Bettinelli: 7
A confident Championship debut, he knew when to punch and when to catch. Aside from the goal, for which he was left with no chance, he wasn’t called upon much, but Gabor Kiraly may be sat on the bench for a while on this evidence.
Kay Voser: 6
Strong in the tackle and made several supporting runs down the right flank, but his crossing left a little to be desired.
Nikolay Bodurov: 7
A more solid display from the Bulgarian as he helped repel Cardiff attacks.
Dan Burn: 8
Outstanding against the threat of Kenwyne Jones, but was punished the one moment he allowed the Cardiff striker space. His positioning was spot on and he won virtually everything in the air.
Konstantinos Stafylidis : 6
Started really well, making an important interception early on and offering support down the left flank. But he found Cardiff’s overloading on that side difficult to deal with in the second period and was outmanoeuvred by Jones for Cardiff’s goal.
Tim Hoogland: 8
Timed his arrival perfectly to head home the opening goal and was a stabilising influence on the midfield, with a couple of excellent challenges in the second half.
Emerson Hyndman: 6
Tidy and linked up well with Scott Parker but didn’t have the same effect as his midfield colleagues.
Scott Parker: 8
Controlled the first half, dictating the tempo and making some intelligent forays forward. He showed great awareness in the build up to Fulham’s goal and was as committed as ever. Didn’t quite live up to those high standards in the second half but was still the conduit for most of Fulham’s attacks.
Chris David: 7
Began excellently, showing some neat touches and his tenacity saw him shrug off the close attentions of the Cardiff defence. He linked play well in the first half but was another to have a reduced role in the second period, and was replaced by Moussa Dembele.
Ross McCormack: 7
The first half’s most involved player, the big-money signing chased down from the front, looked dangerous cutting in from the left flank and created Fulham’s goal. His influence waned as the match went on but the former Cardiff man is starting to bed in at the Cottage.
Cauley Woodrow: 6
Worked hard to link up play but got caught offside a few times and then fluffed his big chance when Parker set him up only to blaze over from close range. Replaced by Adil Chihi.
Adil Chihi: 7
A lively half-hour debut cameo, which included a couple of telling crosses and a keenness to shoot.
Man of the match: Parker
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This post was last modified on 31/08/2014