West Brom came from behind to record a 2-1 win against Fulham and climb into the Premier League top four.
West Brom see off Fulham thanks to Fortune winner
West Brom came from behind at the Hawthorns to record a 2-1 victory against Fulham and climb into the Premier League top four as a result.
A Scott Carson own goal gave Fulham the lead but the Baggies struck back thanks to goals from Youssuf Mulumbu and Marc-Antoine Fortune to maintain their impressive start to the season.
The Cottagers went ahead early on when Zoltan Gera came back to haunt his former club.
The midfielder collected Mousa Dembele's pass before unleashing a stinging effort which struck the post, only for the ball to bounce back against unlucky goalkeeper Carson and over the line.
Mark Hughes' side should have stretched their lead minutes later when Diomansy Kamara was gifted a loose pass but the striker could only fire his effort against the outside of the post.
The Baggies restored parity after 17 minutes thanks to Mulumbu's first Premier League goal of the season and his first for a year.
Chris Brunt's reverse pass was collected by the Congolese international just inside the area before he slotted the ball past a helpless Mark Schwarzer at his near post.
The hosts though they had taken the lead when Jonas Olsson's header was brilliantly cleared off the line by Stephen Kelly.
However, just five minutes before the break, West Brom went ahead as Fortune bagged his first goal for the club for 18 months.
Brunt's nicely weighted pass found Jerome Thomas inside the box and his pull back was well finished off by the former Celtic man.
The Baggies went on to dominate the second half with Mulumbu and the Jerome Thomas both producing impressive displays while Andrew Johnson brought some cheer to Fulham fans as he came on after an hour.
The win means the Baggies are on their best top flight run for 27 years as Roberto Di Matteo's side stretched their unbeaten home record to an impressive 15 games.
However, it's now back-to-back defeat for Mark Hughes' side but credit has to go to West Brom who deserved the three points.
Positive
West Brom made the more positive start, with Brunt drilling a low free-kick that Schwarzer was equal to.
Moments later Fortune chested down Brunt's cross in the box, turned and hit a shot that deflected behind for a corner. It was met by Olsson, who was unable to find any accuracy with his header.
Clint Dempsey hit back at the other end with a speculative effort that went wide and in the ninth minute, the visitors were ahead thanks to a slice of good luck.
Gera collected a pass from Dembele and unleashed a strike which Carson did well to tip against the post.
Unfortunately for Carson, the ball bounced back off the woodwork, against him and in, and although Gera made a point of not celebrating against his old club, it will go down as an own goal.
Another former Baggies player, Kamara, could have made it 2-0 soon after but saw his effort go just the wrong side of the post, and Gera then shot over the bar.
Just after the quarter-hour mark the hosts were level, though, as Brunt's through-ball evaded Fortune but was controlled by Mulumbu, who slotted it past Schwarzer.
Brede Hangeland then gave the ball away in a dangerous area but was swift to reclaim it from Thomas, and Olsson was on the end of another corner with a looping header that Kelly cleared off the line.
The home side were back in the ascendancy and with five minutes of the first half remaining, they took the lead.
Thomas picked out Fortune from the by-line and the Frenchman passed the ball beyond Schwarzer and into the net.
It could have got even better for Di Matteo's men before the interval but James Morrison shot well off-target and Paul Scharner's header went into the side-netting.
Eager
West Brom emerged for the second period looking eager to extend their advantage and Morrison tried his luck again, with a similar outcome.
Fortune then attempted to take advantage of another mistake by Hangeland, but over-ran the ball as he advanced towards Schwarzer.
Di Matteo made a double substitution, withdrawing Fortune and Olsson for Roman Bednar and Pablo Ibanez, and Gabriel Tamas connected with a corner but could do little to send it in the right direction.
Johnson came on for Fulham in place of Kamara to make his first appearance since January, but it remained one-way traffic, with Bednar hoisting the ball over Schwarzer and in only to be flagged offside.
Morrison then received the ball by the far post but lost his footing as he tried to poke it past Schwarzer, and Scharner's shot drew a good save out of the Australian goalkeeper as the hosts continued to pile on the pressure.
Baggies fans cried out for a penalty when Thomas appeared to have his shirt pulled by Kelly, but referee Kevin Friend waved play on.
West Brom then sprung an attack direct from Carson's long kick, with Morrison racing on to it and prodding the ball across Schwarzer but wide.
Fulham had a glimpse of a chance when Carson flapped at a cross, but the ball was cleared away.
Moments later Johnson narrowly failed to get a touch on a delivery that flew across the box.
The former Everton frontman was then unable to get a shot in while tracked by Ibanez and the hosts remained solid up to the final whistle to claim the victory.
| West Bromwich Albion |
Team Statistics |
Fulham |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
5 |
| 4 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.6 |
Passing Success |
78.2 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
16 |
| 84 |
Tackles Success |
68.8 |
| 50.1 |
Possession |
49.9 |
| 48.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.2 |
|
