Match Report
Fulham
(0) 0-2 (0)
Brighton
Championship MatchDay 24 at Craven Cottage
Monday 29th December 2014 KO: 20:00
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
|
Managerless Brighton hauled themselves out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone with a 2-0 victory at Fulham.
The Seagulls, looking for a new boss following Sami Hyypia's departure a week ago, picked up only their second win in 20 matches thanks to second-half goals from Adrian Colunga and Solly March.
Chris Hughton is the favourite for the role, but in the meantime interim boss Nathan Jones is doing a decent job of holding the fort, following up Friday's battling 2-2 draw against Reading with only Brighton's second away win of the season.
Jones is not expected to be considered for the top job, but it will not be lost on the former Albion defender that Fulham are doing pretty well since they gave caretaker Kit Symons the permanent job.
However, the hosts, now safely in mid-table following a wretched start to the campaign, showed little of their recent spark, with the Seagulls running out deserved winners.
| Match Stats |
Fulham
|
Brighton
|
| Goals |
(0) 0 |
(0) 2 |
| |
| Scorers |
|
Colunga pen 60 |
| |
|
March 87 |
| |
| Goal attempts |
18 |
21 |
| On target |
2 |
8 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
11% |
38% |
| Possession |
56% |
44% |
| Corners |
9 |
5 |
| Offsides |
1 |
0 |
| Passes |
559 |
443 |
| Pass Success |
87% |
80% |
| Crosses |
30 |
13 |
| Crosses Success |
13% |
31% |
| Tackles |
7 |
20 |
| Tackles Success |
100% |
65% |
| Saves |
6 |
2 |
| Fouls |
6 |
8 |
| Yellows |
1 |
1 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: Soccernet/Fulham FC |
Danny Holla could have put them into an early lead, but scuffed his volley wide and Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli was forced into fine saves to keep out shots from Colunga and Elliott Bennett.
Centre-half Lewis Dunk - tellingly Brighton's top scorer this season - also looped a header over the crossbar and sent another straight into the chest of Bettinelli.
Lacklustre Fulham did not trouble their former goalkeeper David Stockdale in the first half, although Ross McCormack's shot was deflected narrowly wide and Hugo Rodallega was inches from turning in Kontstantinos Stafylidis' cross-shot.
Brighton should have gone ahead nine minutes after the interval when Craig Mackail-Smith cut the ball back to Norwich loanee Elliott, who saw his initial shot blocked and his follow-up kept out by the shoulder of Bettinelli.
The ball fell to Colunga with Bettinelli stranded, but the Spanish striker's shot clipped the outside of a post.
However, six minutes later the Seagulls did make the breakthrough after Bennett - one of four Albion players whose loan spells ended after the game - was brought down in the area by Stafylidis.
Colunga stepped up and coolly sent Bettinelli the wrong way from the spot for his fourth goal of the season.
Fulham finally roused themselves but were denied by a familiar face, with Stockdale pulling off a stunning fingertip save to keep out Sean Kavanagh's curler and diving low to his right to deny Rodallega to preserve Brighton's lead.
And three minutes from time substitute March latched on to Joao Teixeira's through-ball and clipped it past Bettinelli to wrapped up a vital win.
Fulham: Bettinelli,Grimmer,Hutchinson,Bodurov,
Stafylidis (Roberts 88),Parker,Hyndman (Kavanagh 64),Fofana,
McCormack,Williams (Woodrow 63),Rodallega.
Subs Not Used: Kiraly,Zverotic,Dembele,Burn.
Booked: McCormack (84,f).
Brighton: Stockdale,Calderon,Halford,Dunk,Joe Bennett,Holla,
Ince,Adrian Colunga,Teixeira (Hughes 89),
Elliott Bennett (O'Grady 80),Mackail-Smith (March 74).
Subs Not Used: Baldock,Chicksen,McCourt,Walton.
Booked: Halford (29,f).
Goals: Adrian Colunga 60,March 87.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire).
Attendance: 20619