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Roy Hodgson |
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Fulham Boss Roy
Hodgson acclaimed Andy Johnson's clinical touch after the Fulham striker condemned Wigan to a 2-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at Craven Cottage.
Johnson showed his finishing skills by pouncing in each half to open his account for the club he joined from Everton for £10.5million during the summer.
The England striker looked offside for the first - his 100th league goal - but Hodgson was delighted with his display as Wigan crashed to fourth successive defeat.
"It was important for Andy tonight. All goalscorers need that first goal at their new club to get them kickstarted," he said.
"That's especially the case if you're a big-money signing, which Andy was by Fulham's standards. I'm delighted for him.
"But he didn't just score the goals, he constantly helped our midfield players.
"Andy has that composure in front of goal that his pace, technique and low centre of gravity give him.
"He took his two goals extremely well - they were typical Andy Johnson goals."
Fulham controlled a poor match apart from a 20-minute spell in the first half, when Wigan were on top, before coasting to their third Premier League win of the season.
"When you're playing a team in the same part of the table it's important to get the win," he said.
"We got the benefit of the early goal and played very well in the first 15 minutes but after that we didn't play so well.
"We then lost our way a little bit and got sucked into a longer ball game than I would have liked.
"In the second half we got hold of the ball more and passed it well. We also defended better.
"We aggravated then scored and managed to keep them out. Two goals against a strong Wigan team is a good result for us.
"It gives us a bit of leeway and reflects a little bit better our start to the season as it's given us 11 points from nine games."
Furious Wigan boss Steve Bruce responded to his side's abject performance by branding it "unacceptable".
The defeat has plunged Wigan into the relegation zone - a far cry from September which they negotiated unbeaten.
"I've got no excuses. We were poor and got what we deserved which was nothing," he said.
"You question yourself, the preparation and whether I picked the right team because that was possibly the worst performance since I've been at the club.
"I know we lost by four to Aston Villa but apart from 15-20 minutes in the first half it was an unacceptable performance.
"The second goal summed up our night - 11-year-olds wouldn't defend like that.
"We'll go again and get back to basics. We've had many plaudits all year but tonight wasn't acceptable.
"We must face the facts that six or seven played well below their best and that's not good enough."