English FA Premiership: Crystal Palace were last night granted a gracious gift from their visitors. Only six minutes had been played when Ian Pearce became Fulham's fourth sending off of the season to provide an opportunity that even Palace could not pass up.
Palace were unchanged from the side who earned a point in a typically industrious display at Villa Park nine days earlier, but Ian Dowie's strategy for damage limitation has its limitations. A 4-5-1 formation asks a lot of a 5ft 7in striker like Andy Johnson, whose undeniable talents do not lie in holding up the ball.
Instead, Johnson is a gadfly to defences, an attribute that invited Pearce's clumsy attempt to swat the striker when he was clean through, an act that reduced his side to 10 men. That ill-judged intervention should have allowed Palace to suck the life out of Fulham, but the visitors were content to sit back and draw out the sting.
Box-to-box running from all five Palace midfielders ensured chances would come, but most important seemed to be protecting the defence when possession was lost. Circumstances would force Fulham to reconsider their ambition shortly after the resumption, however. Ben Watson slipped the ball through to Riihilahti, whose chipped centre was lifted over Goma for Johnson to meet. A cool finish from an acute angle gave Palace a well-constructed goal and Fulham fresh impetus.
Palace extended their lead in the 69 minute when Wayne Routledge delivered from the right and Aki Riihilahti rose near the penalty spot, hammering his header home.
CRYSTAL PALACE: Kiraly, Boyce, Popovic, Hall (Sorondo 45), Granville, Watson, Routledge (Lakis 72), Riihilahti (Kaviedes 74), Hughes, Kolkka, Johnson. Subs Not Used: Speroni, Torghelle. Booked: Johnson. Goals: Johnson 53, Riihilahti 69.
FULHAM: Van der Sar, Volz, Pearce, Knight, Green, Malbranque, McKinlay, Pembridge, Boa Morte, McBride (John 62), Radzinski (Goma 9), Goma (Bocanegra 62). Subs Not Used: Crossley, Rehman. Sent Off: Pearce (6). Booked: Bocanegra.
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).
