Pajtim Kasami and Steve Sidwell scored goal-of-
the-season contenders as Fulham fought back to
beat Crystal Palace.
Adrian Mariappa's early header had put the Eagles
ahead, only for Kasami and Sidwell to turn the match
upside down with stunning volleys before half-time.
Dimitar Berbatov's header and Philippe Senderos's
scissor kick made certain shortly after the break as
Fulham eased the pressure on manager Martin Jol.
But Palace's worries go on after a seventh defeat in
eight league games.
The Eagles remain 19th but are now five points adrift of
safety.
However, the picture is starting to look more positive
for Jol and his team after they made it back-to-back
victories in the Premier League for the first time this
season, lifting them to 14th and within one point of
eighth-placed Manchester United.
Eagles manager Ian Holloway had stated that his team
planned to "go for it" before kick-off and they were
true to his word, making a purposeful start before
taking a seventh-minute lead.
Fulham could only half clear a Palace corner and the
ball was worked back out to Jason Puncheon, on the
left, whose cross was headed home by Mariappa with a
fine leap which saw the 5ft 11in defender outjump 6ft
6in Brede Hangeland.
Yet within 12 minutes Jol's side levelled with a stunning
strike from Kasami which transformed the complexion
of the game.
Sascha Riether's floated pass down the channel was
taken on the chest by Kasami on the right-hand edge of
the penalty area and, in one fluid movement, he
unleashed a stunning dipping volley on the angle up
and over Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni into the top-
left corner.
Having lost their momentum, Palace suddenly looked a
deflated side and Fulham took full advantage.
Another moment of brilliance arrived on the stroke of
half-time when Bryan Ruiz's free-kick bounced back off
the wall to Sidwell, situated on the edge of the penalty
arc, and the midfielder smashed a first-time volley into
virtually the same spot as Kasami.
After the break the Cottagers picked up where they left
off and a mistake by Speroni gifted the visitors a fine
chance when he cleared the ball straight against
Berbatov, who cleverly fed Darren Bent to leave the
striker with just the Crystal Palace goalkeeper to beat.
But the Argentine redeemed himself with an excellent
reflex save to turn the striker's vicious shot around the
post.
Speroni's relief was to prove short-lived, however, as
from the resulting corner Berbatov met Ruiz's delivery
with a typically deft header into the far corner for his
first league goal of the season.
Five minutes later Holloway's side were undone from a
set-piece once more as Senderos, left woefully
unmarked at the far post, claimed a rare goal with an
acrobatic shot from another Ruiz corner which
squirmed underneath Speroni.
A frustrating night for the home team was
compounded when a Kieran Richardson error
eventually led to a chance for Eagles' record signing
Dwight Gayle, whose first shot was saved before he
converted the rebound - only to be flagged offside - as
Palace slipped deeper into trouble.
Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway:
"We started well but this division is ruthless. That first
goal was something else and it knocked us a bit. We
then made mistakes at set-pieces. It's an unforgiving
division but we must bounce back.
"There were plenty of good things. Once you get into a
run like this it's very disheartening and you could see
that in the players. We huffed and we puffed but
Fulham were well on top by then. It's very tough to
take.
"You need some building blocks of confidence to work
on. The lads are smarting now and that's five defeats in
a row. We're normally good at corners but it's one or
two people making a slight mistake because we have
the stuffing knocked out of us.
"A win will turn it right around. There is lots to do but I
can't fault the effort. We have to believe that we have
the quality."
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