Bolton 0 Fulham 3
Clint Dempsey’s first-half brace helped Fulham to a resounding – and rare – away victory.
Mahamadou Diarra scored his first goal for the club to complete a great win for Martin Jol’s side, although it was marred by a seemingly serious injury to Bryan Ruiz, who was stretchered off with 18 minutes remaining.
Dempsey, who has now scored 21 goals this season, put the Whites ahead with a 25-yard free-kick and then doubled the lead shortly before half-time with a header from Damien Duff’s right-wing cross.
Dempsey had the ball in the net early on, when he fired in from 10 yards after Duff’s shot was charged down, but the American was ruled offside.
But there was no room for doubt when Dempsey brilliantly belted in the opener on the half-hour mark.
And after Dempsey’s second, Bolton never looked like recovering.
Wanderers pushed forward in the second half but always looked vulnerable on the counter-attack, and it took an excellent save from keeper Adam Bogdan to prevent Duff from scoring Fulham’s third.
There was concern for Ruiz after he went down with no-one near him, but Jol’s men regrouped and Diarra’s close-range finish capped a fine display.
Diarra slotted home after after John Arne Riise broke down the left and picked out the former Real Madrid midfielder.
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This post was last modified on 09/04/2012