Starting Formations

Fulham
4-4-2

A Johnson      Zamora

Seol      Baird      Murphy      Gera

Kallio      Hughes      Smalling      Kelly

Schwarzer

Perth Glory
4-4-2

Sterjovski      Dadi

Sikora      Srhoj      Bulloch     Pellegrino

Coyne      Harnwell      Todd      Neville

Vrteski

Match Report

Fulham concluded their tour of Australia in some style as they put on a real show of quality in the second match of a double header of football action at Perth’s Members Equity Stadium.

After Wolves had run out 2-1 winners over Robbie Fowler’s North Queensland Fury, it was Fulham’s turn to fly the English flag. And they did so emphatically as the team overwhelmed their A League opponents with a second-half finishing masterclass.

The first-half had been relatively quiet, with few chances at either end, as the Whites seemed content to play a possession game. A 1-0 lead at half-time was deserved, but merely a taste of what was to follow.

Roy Hodgson made just the one change from the side that had defeated Melbourne Victory 3-0 on Saturday, as Chris Smalling replaced Andranik having overcome his ankle injury. Smalling slotted into the centre of defence, whilst Chris Baird moved to midfield.

The Whites looked neat in the opening minutes, keeping possession well and moving the ball into space. Happy to play a patient game, they carved their first chance after four minutes. Andy Johnson, wide on the left, centred the ball to Zoltan Gera on the edge of the area. But when the Hungarian tried his luck, the ball flashed just wide.

Perth had their first effort a few minutes later when a ball over the top sent Sterjovski through on goal. The striker appeared to have a fantastic chance to score, but from nowhere appeared Chris Smalling with an emphatic tackle of pinpoint accuracy which sent the ball out for a corner.

The Whites were looking the stronger of the two sides, encamped in the Perth half, searching for openings. And their patience reaped dividendson 16 minutes when Zamora played through Andrew Johnson. In a familiar one-on-one situation AJ’s first effort, poked in mid-air, was clawed away by the keeper, but happily, the rebound fell neatly into Johnson’s path, allowing the striker to side foot home from a tight angle.

Perth had a good opportunity to level on 23 minutes. The Fulham defence appeared to have dealt well with an aerial attack, but Chris Baird inadvertently played the ball into the path of Chris Bulloch. The midfielder advanced on the penalty area and unleashed a particularly vicious left footed drive which thankfully flew wide of Schwarzer’s left post.

Fulham replied quickly with a promising attack of their own. Some neat passing and movement pulled the Glory defence out of position and allowed Zoltan Gera to send AJ through for a chance at a second. However, veteran Andy Todd demonstrated his vast experience, arriving with a solid block tackle as AJ shaped to shoot.

Just before the break, Danny Murphy had an opportunity to score his second free-kick of the tour after Bobby Zamora was bundled over on the left side of the penalty area. However, the Fulham skipper couldn’t repeat his stunning effort against Gold Coast, and instead the ball sailed over without troubling Vrteski.

The Whites had another sight of goal before the half was out. A crunching Baird tackle in midfield resulted in a ball rolling through into the path of Johnson. However, the striker’s shot went just over, although the linesman had already flagged offside.

Roy Hodgson made four changes at half-time, introducing Eddie Johnson and Erik Nevland for Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora up-front. John Pantsil came on to replace Toni Kallio, whilst David Stockdale took over goalkeeping duties from Schwarzer.

Fulham had a scare in the opening moments of the second period. Aaron Hughes cushioned a header back to David Stockdale, but running out of his box, the young stopper almost overran the ball, but luckily it bounced off his shin rather than running through on the open goal.

A downpour of epic proportions that began just before the break was making conditions difficult to play football along the ground, but that almost didn’t matter on 56 minutes when Baird played an exquisite pass some 30 yards over the top of the defence. Nevland ran on to the ball, taking it on his chest, but his low shot rolled wide of the far post.

However, Erik made no such mistake on the hour as he doubled Fulham’s lead. Eddie Johnson was fed the ball on the left side of the box and shaped to shoot with his left foot, but instead, he squared the ball to his strike partner who made no mistake.

Almost immediately the rain began to fall exceptionally heavily, and a swirling wind in the low sided stadium saw a large number of the crowd heading for the exits.

But the present Fulham fans were given something to warm their spirits soon after, when Nevland claimed his second. A slide rule pass through the middle sliced open the Perth defence and Erik ran through one-on-one, before producing a stylish trademark outside of the boot finish to make it 3-0.

And the substitute completed a stunning seven minute hat-trick soon after. Eddie Johnson was again the provider, with a neat flicked pass setting up the Norwegian who delicately flicked the ball himself beyond the reach of the keeper’s left hand.

With a win guaranteed, Roy was able to ring the changes once again, introducing Matthew Briggs, Adrian Leijer and later, Matt Saunders, to make full use of his squad.

But the changes didn’t disrupt Fulham’s domination, as they added further gloss to a great result inside the last 10 minutes.

A surging run from Freddie Stoor from inside his own area saw the Swede eventually play a pass wide right to Andranik. The Iranian, in acres of space, closed in on goal and smashed a low shot into the back of the net to complete an enjoyable rout for the Fulham players; the perfect way to cap a fortnight of hard work in Australia.

Second-half Fulham Line-up:  Schwarzer (Stockdale 45); Kelly, Hughes, Smalling, Kallio (Pantsil 45); Gera, Murphy, Baird, Seol; A. Johnson (E. Johnson 45), Zamora (Nevland 45).