With a magnificent first half performance, Fulham did enough to ease past a very determined Monaco side at Craven Cottage earlier this afternoon.

Goals from Louis Saha and Luis Boa Morte, back after suspension and with only one reserve team match under his belt, sealed victory for the Whites.

With only the Riverside stand open to supporters, this friendly got under way with something of a pre-season feel to it.

Fulham were immediately on the attack, forcing their French counterparts into long spells of defensive play.

On 8 minutes Fulham took the lead after a John Collins free-kick was headed across the face of goal by Zat Knight, for Louis Saha to head home from close range.

Knight in particular put in an impressive performance, as he marshalled the back line along with Alan Neilson, Abdes Ouaddou and Rufus Brevett.

Monaco appeared to be struggling to contain Fulham in the first period. Despite the fact that the Whites had several players away on international duty, their fast and intelligent play had Monaco in a state of disarray on a number of occasions.

Upon gaining possession of the ball, the French visitors were often found with only one player up front to aim for - such was the intensity of Fulham's attacks.

Fulham doubled their lead on the half-hour mark as Luis Boa Morte twisted and turned on the edge to the box to win a free kick. John Collins rattled the following set-piece against the crossbar, only for Boa Morte to follow in with a stooping header to make the score 2-0 to Fulham.

The second half started with Monaco looking more composed than their first half display. Taking a more direct route to the front line, the French side opted to spread the ball wide and play long balls to the front.

Whilst Deschamps' side were not creating too many chances, they had successfully reduced Fulham's attacks to a more comfortable level.

Monaco gave themselves a brief chance to get back into the match when Jon Harley was unfortunate enough to divert the ball past Hahnemann into the net after a spectacular goalbound looking volley from Rool.

However, Fulham managed to keep control of the game and only allowed Monaco possession of the ball in non-threatening areas.

After a series of niggling incidents, the referee blew the final whistle to round of an impressive Fulham display. But not before three of the visitors found their way into Referee Barbers notebook.

Fulham

Marcus Hahnemann,

Alan Neilson, Rufus Brevett, Zat Knight, Abdes Ouaddou,

Lee Clark,Sylvain Legwinski, John Collins, Jon Harley,

Louis Saha, Luis Boa Morte

Next match for Fulham is away at Charlton on Sunday the 9th September!!

COME ON YOU WHITES