Fulham 2 Aston Villa 0
Fulham produced their best performance of the season, ending a six-game losing run and giving Rene Meulensteen his first victory as manager.
First-half goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov secured the win as a team with renewed confidence dominated large spells of the match.
Sidwell opened the scoring against his former club when he latched on to Ashkan Dejagah’s pass before firing past Villa keeper Brad Guzan.
Berbatov grabbed the second from the penalty spot after Alex Kacaniklic tumbled under Leandro Bacuna’s challenge.
The victory, and the manner in which it was achieved, will come as a massive boost to new boss Meulensteen after the defeat to Tottenham in midweek.
Villa had no answer to Fulham’s movement in and around the box, particularly in the first half.
In the opening stages, Berbatov had a header tipped on to the post by Guzan while Kacaniklic saw a curling effort cleared off the line by Villa’s Nathan Baker.
Fulham got their reward when Sidwell struck and they doubled the lead a few minutes later in slightly fortunate circumstances.
Dejagah got ahead of Bacuna in a footrace after being sent clear by Berbatov’s cute volleyed pass and then went to ground as the pair battled for the ball, with referee Mike Dean awarding the spot-kick.
Berbatov, unfortunate not to be given a penalty for a shove in the back in the opening minutes, exacted revenge with a coolly taken spot-kick.
Villa’s only chances of the first half came through Christian Benteke, who flashed a header wide and forced a save from Maarten Stekelenburg.
Fulham had further chances after the break. Philippe Senderos headed a corner straight at Guzan, Karagounis fired just over and John Arne Riise headed against the post.
Villa failed to carve out clear chances until the final minutes.
Gabriel Agbonlahor had a strong penalty appeal turned down when he appeared to be tripped by Aaron Hughes, while Stekelenburg superbly tipped over Benteke’s goal=bound effort in injury time.
Fulham: Stekelenburg; Riether, Hughes, Senderos, Riise; Dejagah, Parker, Karagounis (Kasami 72), Sidwell, Kačaniklić (Duff 77); Berbatov.
Subs not used: Stockdale, Zverotic, Richardson, Ruiz, Christensen.
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This post was last modified on 09/12/2013