Wigan 0 Fulham 2
Goals from Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele gave Fulham a fine victory at the DW Stadium.
Dempsey slotted home from close range after being picked out by a left-wing cross from Bobby Zamora, who later hit the bar.
And Dembele sealed Fulham’s first away league win under manager Martin Jol with a fine run and shot with three minutes remaining.
Zamora’s assist was a great way for him to bounce back after his terrible open-goal miss in the home defeat against Everton last week.
And this result – the Whites’ second league victory of the season – was the perfect response to that loss to the Merseysiders.
Dempsey’s goal came four minutes before the interval and was against the run of play as Fulham, without injured defenders Aaron Hughes and Philippe Senderos, were on the back foot for much of the first half.
Whites goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer did superbly to push away Ben Watson’s dipping shot and from the resulting corner an unmarked Gary Caldwell headed over.
Early in the second half, Victor Moses almost netted a spectacular equaliser when he connected with a brilliant volley that crashed against the inside of the post.
Zamora was also denied by the woodwork when he tried his luck after being teed up by Danny Murphy.
And the post again came to Fulham’s rescue late on, this time after Maynor Figueroa let fly from 30 yards.
Schwarzer was beaten by that stunning effort but was easily able to keep out Watson’s feeble attempt to score from the rebound – a weak header the Australian was able to gather comfortably.
And Fulham were able to play out the final minutes comfortably, courtesy of Dembele’s great finish.
After Figueroa gave the ball away, Steve Sidewell found the Fulham forward and he drove towards the penalty area before firing into the corner.
This post was last modified on 29/10/2011