Fulham moved 10 points clear at the top of Division One with a classy win at
Loftus Road which plunged QPR deeper into the relegation mire.
This was not Fulham at their best against their stubborn west London rivals
but in the end they had the firepower to beat a Rangers side low on confidence.
QPR had started the game still looking shellshocked from Saturday's 6-0 FA Cup
mauling by Arsenal and for the first half hour they hardly got a kick as Fulham
were content to stroke the play around the park.
But it took the visitors until the fourth minute of first-half injury time
before they finally grabbed the lead and that came courtesy of a howler from
Rangers goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko.
Louis Saha fed Peter Moller on the left edge of the penalty area but his shot
straight at the keeper looked harmless until Miklosko somehow let it slip under
his body and into the net.
Fulham had earlier been restricted to two long-range efforts.
First Bjarne Goldbaek hit a swinging shot from 20 yards which Miklosko could
only parry to Moller but the Fulham striker reacted slowly to the rebound and
the ball was hacked to safety.
Then on 18 minutes Saha cut infield and smacked a shot from 30 yards which
beat the keeper but skidded inches wide.
Rangers were hampered by the loss of both Clarke Carlisle and Richard Langley
through injury in the first half and in truth the only chance they mustered was
Gavin Peacock's tame effort which was easily dealt with by Maik Taylor in the
Fulham goal.
The second half provided much more goalmouth activity at both ends but it was
still Fulham who were looking the more likely to score.
After 51 minutes Lee Clark put in Fabrice Fernandes and his vicious shot must
have caught Miklosko unawares as it cannoned into his chest and bounced to
safety.
QPR had a glorious chance to level matters on 58 minutes when Ian Baraclough
crossed to Peter Crouch. He nodded the ball into the path of Chris Kiwomya but
from just a couple of yards out the striker headed straight at Taylor.
From the breakaway Fernandes again ran in on goal and once more his shot hit
Miklosko's chest but when the rebound fell to Saha he could only blaze it over
the bar.
Karlheinz Riedle replaced Moller for Fulham and after he had one effort
brilliantly saved by the keeper it was the German who made sure of victory with
the second goal on 78 minutes.
Goldbaek swung in a corner from the right to the head of Riedle and despite
Miklosko getting a hand to the ball it flew into the top corner.
There was no way back for QPR by then, though they had looked more potent in
the second half.
On 73 minutes Crouch went up for a cross with the Fulham keeper and when the
ball ran loose Peacock's effort was blocked into the path of Kiwomya, who shot
wide with the goal at his mercy.
Rangers never came closer and in the end Fulham should have added to their
tally as their class told.
Teams:
QPR: Miklosko, Plummer, Rose, Carlisle (Bruce 11), Perry,
Langley (Kulcsar 37), Peacock, Connolly (Ngonge 79), Baraclough, Kiwomya, Crouch.
Subs Not Used: Harper, Morrow.
Fulham: Taylor, Finnan, Melville, Symons, Brevett, Goldbaek,
Davis, Clark, Fernandes, Saha, Moller (Riedle 70).
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Sahnoun, Neilson, Stolcers.
Booked: Davis.
Goals: Moller 45, Riedle 77.
Att: 16,403
Ref: P Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).
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