The middle of the line

The poor away form continues, with a result that Fulham could have done without. The worry is that after the highs of December, the team is finding it hard to keep the momentum up in January. The loss of several players to injury (and a couple in Africa) makes this a tough period, but there should be depth to the squad: many of the games in Europe against top opposition were played with alternate players.

Both goals came from set-pieces. The first from a corner which led to Duff needing to parry a knock from Murphy that could have been an own goal. That parry led, unfortunately, to the feet Samba. The second from a free kick in which Nelsen was able to get well clear to head in, although there was more than a hint of offside.

Dempsey was off injured, after a pretty good game in which he hit the bar (from a bicycle kick!) and made quite a bit of play. A potential cruiciate ligament knack, and if that’s the case, he could be out for some time. Hopefully Clint hasn’t taken more than a light knock.