Goals from Alexander Kačaniklić, Dimitar Berbatov and Urby Emanuelson secured an emphatic 3-0 victory for Fulham over Swansea on Sunday.

After Kačaniklić had set the visitors on their way at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea were dominant in the second period, only to see themselves go two down when Berbatov rounded Michel Vorm to grab his 15th of the season.

That strike nullified the Swans’ attacking threat and Fulham took full advantage when substitute Emanuelson passed into an empty net after Vorm could only parry Kačaniklić’s stoppage-time effort.

The result means Fulham end the season on 43 points in 12th place in the Barclays Premier League.

Martin Jol made three changes from the side that lost to Liverpool seven days ago, with John Arne Riise replacing the injured Kieran Richardson, while Emmanuel Frimpong and Philippe Senderos were preferred to Giorgos Karagounis and Aaron Hughes.

Fulham saw their first glimpse of goal as early as the third minute when Bryan Ruiz beat the offside trap to collect Kačaniklić’s pass. The Costa Rican skipped three challenges as he tried to create a clear angle for himself, but fluffed his shot when he elected to pull the trigger.

The Whites – who were sporting their black and gold ensemble – were presented with another opportunity on six minutes when Chico Flores was penalised 20 yards from goal for obstructing Kačaniklić. Riise stepped up to hammer in the free-kick but his powerful effort bounced wide of the far post.

It was a positive start by the visitors but Swansea showed their threat, too, on eight minutes when Pablo Hernandez flashed a dangerous right-footed effort mere inches wide of Mark Schwarzer’s upright. The Spaniard was proving a threat and he almost punished Senderos for his lax pass on 21 minutes but, thankfully, dragged his shot from range marginally wide.

Swansea had been growing in dominance but Fulham hit them with a sucker punch through a fine Kačaniklić goal. Frimpong and Ruiz played a cute one-two just inside the Swans’ half before the on-loan Arsenal man played in Kačaniklić who advanced several yards before accurately firing beyond Vorm to hand Fulham the lead.

The Swans were presented with a decent free-kick opportunity on 27 minutes after Sascha Riether was penalised for a high boot on Ben Davies – for which the German was somewhat harshly booked considering he only had eyes for the ball. Luckily the set-piece came to nothing.

A brilliantly clever free-kick from Fulham then saw us denied a second by a lick of paint when Ruiz sent Kačaniklić free once again only for the Sweden international to see his right-footed effort come back off the post after a crucial fingertip save from Vorm.

In what was fast becoming an end-to-end encounter, Nathan Dyer was next to go close but his vicious strike from 25 yards didn’t dip soon enough to cause Schwarzer any concern on 36 minutes. The Welsh side were ending the half strongly and Fulham did well to repeatedly clear from a barrage of corners and crosses, before Schwarzer held a decent effort from Jonathan de Guzman just as three minutes of stoppage time were announced.

Swansea started the second period the way they finished the first and it needed a great sliding block from Eyong Enoh to deny them an early opportunity after Hernandez had found space on the by-line. The yellow card count was then evened up when Hernandez went into the book for felling the marauding Frimpong who had made a powerful run down the right.

A wonderful tackle by Enoh on Chico in the Fulham half on 50 minutes gave the away side the chance to counter once the Cameroonian had played in Berbatov further up the pitch. Our top scorer galloped forward before attempting to square the ball to Ruiz – unfortunately, the cross had too much pace to find its man.

Schwarzer was then forced to make a near-post stop to put Angel Rangel’s speculative effort out for a corner as Swansea searched for the equaliser their vocal supporters desperately craved. And that craving was almost satisfied on 53 minutes when the ball fell to Chico following a corner, only for the centre-back to tamely volley into the grateful arms of Schwarzer.

After a Fulham counter came to nothing courtesy of Ashley Williams’ block, de Guzman was next to test Schwarzer with a shot on the swivel after Fulham had failed to clear their lines in a crowded penalty area, before former Whites loanee Wayne Routledge crashed an effort into the side-netting.

Schwarzer then made a world-class save on the hour mark to deny Hernandez. The attacker had been neatly flicked through to find himself in a one-on-one situation and a goal seemed inevitable until a great reaction stop from the 40-year-old kept Hernandez’s effort out.

And the Australian was at it again two minutes later when he tipped Hernandez’s effort round the post following a rare misplaced pass from Enoh, before he was called into action when Leon Britton’s venomous shot needed putting over the bar. Jol then made his first change of the game with Frimpong making way for Karagounis on 68 minutes.

Williams was then denied by a post after he’d ghosted forwards to get on the end of de Guzman’s lofted ball, after which Emanuelson came on for Damien Duff.

Despite Swansea’s constant pressure the crucial second goal went in favour of Fulham. A perfectly weighted through-ball from Ruiz sent Berbatov clear and the Bulgarian used the run of the parallel Kačaniklić as a decoy to round Vorm and slot into an empty net in front of the jubilant travelling fans.

The goal really knocked the wind out of Swansea’s sails, with a couple of speculative efforts all they could muster as the match edged towards its conclusion. Jol made his final substitution late on as Berbatov departed for Hugo Rodallega, just before Michu was booked for a nasty challenge on Kačaniklić.

The 21-year-old Swede had enjoyed a masterful game and he almost grabbed his second of the afternoon with a beautiful curling effort in stoppage time only to see it bounce off the crossbar with Vorm beaten.

There was to be a cherry on the top of Fulham’s trip to Wales, though, with Emanuelson netting his first goal for the Club. Karagounis played a sweet ball in to the advancing Kačaniklić and although Vorm did well to parry his effort, Emanuelson was on hand to tap into the empty net in the final action of the game.