A disappointing second-half display saw Fulham lose 2-0 at Swansea. Here’s how we rated Rene Meulensteen’s men.
Maarten Stekelenburg: 7
Kept busy and made a couple of good stops, most notably from Chico Flores’ first-half header and a Jonathan de Guzman effort in the second half. Could do little with either goal due to the deflections.
Sascha Riether: 7
Came up against Wayne Routledge and was largely solid defensively as well as offering an attacking outlet.
Brede Hangeland: 6
Guilty of a glaring miss in the first half when he headed over from Kieran Richardson’s free-kick. However, he produced an important clearing header at the other end almost immediately to deny Wilfried Bony a shooting chance.
Dan Burn: 7
Seems to be maturing well after graduating from his loan spell. Swansea’s deep-lying attackers and passing made it tricky for Fulham but the youngster coped admirably.
Kieran Richardson: 6
Created some of Fulham’s best chances with excellent deliveries from set pieces, but had a mixed night up against Pablo Hernandez and Lloyd Dyer.
Scott Parker: 7
Another dogged, determined display characterised by a couple of ‘introductory’ challenges on Bony early in both halves. Also set Fulham on their way with some neat through balls.
Steve Sidwell: 6
Guilty of not closing down quickly enough at times as Swansea passed their way through midfield in the second half.
Ashkan Dejagah: 6
Got plenty of crosses away which troubled the Swansea defence but should have done better than head straight at Gerhard Tremmel when well placed. Replaced on the hour mark by Darren Bent.
Clint Dempsey: 6
Saw plenty of the ball in the first half, getting a firm shot away late on which worked Tremmel, and was off-target with a couple of others. However, he couldn’t quite ignite the Fulham attack once Swansea took control and he was replaced by Damien Duff on 70 minutes.
Alexander Kacaniklic: 7
Busy throughout down the left-hand side. Got forward well, sent in several great crosses which went begging and had one shot saved by Tremmel. Also worked hard to try and prevent full-back Angel Rangel from making overlapping runs.
Dimitar Berbatov: 6
Talk of a January move has subsided but if this should happen to be his last Fulham appearance, it’d be a quiet exit. Largely kept well shackled by the Swans defence, especially in the second half. Replaced by Muamer Tankovic late on.
Darren Bent: 6
Came on in the hope of adding a cutting edge and had a shot saved late on, but Fulham failed to provide much in the way of service to him.
Damien Duff: 6
Played the last 20 minutes in his more natural left-wing position (after a sojourn at left-back against Sheffield United on Sunday) but couldn’t create a great deal.
Swansea
Michael Laudrup’s side retain and use the ball so well and when they stepped it up in the second half Fulham had little answer. De Guzman was their biggest threat, dropping into midfield pockets, while Dyer’s introduction on the hour mark gave Fulham problems from out wide.
Man of the match: De Guzman
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This post was last modified on 29/01/2014