PREMIER LEAGUE: Dempsey at the double as Fulham dominate Bolton

Fulham recorded an easy 3-0 win over a lethargic Bolton Wanderers at Craven Cottage tonight.

The Cottagers dominated almost the entire 90 minutes to move into the top half of the league table and eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Clint Dempsey’s double inspired the home side who made a Trotters outfit, which beat Arsenal on Sunday, look second rate.

The USA international opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a spectacular sideways volley that gave Bolton keeper Jussi Jassklainen no chance before knocking in Eidur Gudjohnsen’s flick-on from close range less than two minutes into the second half.

Centre-back Brede Hangeland provided the finishing touch with a customary header which saw him rise above a pack of players to powerfully nod home Danny Murphy’s free-kick in the 65th minute.

The victory was Fulham’s sixth in their last seven outings at home and saw them move to ninth on the table whilst Bolton dropped their third away match in a row to remain eighth.

Fulham: 3 (Clint Dempsey 15’/48’, Brede Hangeland 65’)
Bolton Wanderers: 0

Venue: Craven Cottage, London
Crowd: 23,222
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Yellow cards: FUL - Bobby Zamora 78’
BOL - Ivan Klasnic 83’

Starting Line-Ups

Fulham
Mark Schwarzer (gk) – Chris Baird, Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland, Carlos Salcido – Simon Davies, Danny Murphy (Etuhu 79’), Steve Sidwell, Clint Dempsey – Eidur Gudjohnsen (Johnson 84’), Moussa Dembele (Zamora 68’)

Subs - David Stockdale (gk), Bobby Zamora (68’), Dickson Etuhu (79’), Andy Johnson (84’), Gael Kakuta, Philippe Senderos, Stephen Kelly

Bolton
Jussi Jaaskelainen (gk) – Gretar Steinsson (Wheater 66’), Zat Knight, Gary Cahill, Paul Robinson – Lee Chung-Yong, Fabrice Muamba (Gardner 71’), Tamir Cohen, Matt Taylor – Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies (Klasnic 72’)

Subs - Adam Bogdan (gk), David Wheater (66’), Ricardo Gardner (71’), Ivan Klasnic (72’), Martin Petrov, Robbie Blake, Rodrigo