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Peter Morrison at Daily Star |
C. Palace (1) 1 Fulham (2) 4
FORMER strikers Mark Bright and Ian Wright were paraded on the pitch before the game but Crystal Palace's glory days are long gone.
The home side started well thanks to Adrian Mariappa's early header but Fulham turned on the style with two stunners from Pajtim Kasami and Steve Sidwell before half-time.
And they killed the game off in the second half with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos to finally give boss Martin Jol something to smile about.
Dwight Gayle forced a smart save from the returning Maarten Stekelenburg in the second minute.
But the big Dutchman was left stranded five minutes later when Mariappa rose to meet Jason Puncheon's cross.
Quite how 6ft 5ins centre-back Brede Hangeland was outjumped by 5ft 10 Mariappa only he knows.
The majority of fans inside Selhurst Park did not care and it almost got even better for the Eagles when Stuart O'Keefe robbed Sidwell but dragged his shot wide.
Fulham looked lost so it needed a moment of brilliance to get them back in the game.
And Kasami delivered it in stunning style on 19 minutes when he chested Sascha Riether's long ball into his path and hit a volley that gave keeper Julian Speroni absolutely no chance.
After their brilliant start, Palace were stunned to find themselves level.
Yannick Bolasie looked a threat for Palace on the left flank and he saw his a shot comfortably saved by Stekelenburg.
But for all their huff and puff, it was plain to see why Holloway's men find themselves four points from safety at this early stage of the season.
Too many times the move broke down on the edge of the Fulham box, with Puncheon struggling to have his usual impact from the right flank.
Gayle looked a threat on the break but was isolated most of the time and hardly saw the ball.
They say you make your own luck but confirmation that Palace's is well and truly out at the moment came just before half-time.
A corner was cleared as far as Sidwell and the boy brought up down the road in Croydon unleashed an unstoppable shot that sailed past Speroni.
Eagles boss Ian Holloway threw on Jerome Thomas at the break for Jose Campana in a bid to fire up his team.
And Bolasie almost delivered a great chance for Gayle to level but his cross was just too high.
A gaffe from Speroni then almost gifted Fulham a third when his kick hit Darren Bent on the back and rebounded to Berbatov.
His backheel set up Bent for the chance but the keeper did well to save the ex-England striker's shot.
But he could do nothing about Berbatov's header from the resulting Bryan Ruiz corner five minutes after the break.
This has been a difficult few weeks for Jol and after lifting some of the pressure off his shoulders against Stoke, the relief on his face was obvious.
Things then got even better for Fulham when Senderos volleyed home another corner.
Holloway threw on Marouane Chamakh in desperation but the game was already up for a side who have lost seven in eight Premier League games.
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