Clint is the King of the Cottage

A game of two halves entirely last night at Craven Cottage.

Blackburn turned up looking to build on their victory over Bolton at the weekend with another on the road. Previous visits to London this season have seen them fall 6-2 at the hands of Arsenal and 5-0 at Chelsea. Despite that record, their loyal travelling fans were in good voice, more so than the home crowd but then again there wasn’t much to sing about from a Fulham point of view for much of the half. Rovers had a few chances to take lead, most notably when Franco di Santo, the youngster on loan at Blackburn from Fulham's local rivals, went clear through on goal. He didn’t look comfortable at all and a poor shot saved by the legs of Schwarzer killed off any danger. A midfield battle then on until a flash of brilliance from Damien Duff with a cheeky through ball to Nevland who then blasted the ball past Paul Robinson at the near post.

Hodgson must have given his team the hairdryer treatment during the break as there was great improvement when the players returned. The second half became the Clint Dempsey show. The American seeming to involve himself in every attack, especially after the departure of the injured Zamora. Gera his replacement moved to the left allowing Dempsey to have a central role alongside Nevland. Dempsey's first was conjured up by Duff, a cross from the right flashed across goal allowing Dempsey to nip in front of Robinson to direct it into the net. His second was a collection of the ball inside the Blackburn half and then a race on goal where he calmly finished. Nevland had a one on one himself earlier in the second half that looked easier than the one he finished but he pulled the shot wide of Robinsons right hand post.

Roy Hodgson has done well at Fulham, evident by their performances against Roma in the Europa League. A top 7 finish will be harder to come by this season but if they can maintain their home form its likely they will be strong contenders.