Match ends, Fulham 3, Huddersfield Town 1.
Fulham 3-1 Huddersfield Town
- From the section Football
Fulham extended their unbeaten run in the Championship to six games with a hard-earned victory over Huddersfield.
The home side survived early scares when Mark Hudson's header was cleared off the line and Harry Bunn shot wide.
Hugo Rodallega capitalised for Fulham by finishing Scott Parker's pass.
Joel Lynch's header levelled terms after the break but Lasse Vigen Christensen ran clear to re-establish the lead and Ross McCormack fired a stunning third from 25 yards.
The points moved the Cottagers up to 17th and will please recently installed boss Kit Symons all the more as they arrived against a Huddersfield side who themselves had lost just once in nine games before kick-off.
Symons - who took temporary charge in September - was awarded the role on a permanent basis in late October and his side look much improved to that which did not find a win in the opening eight games of the campaign under Felix Magath.
They weathered early pressure in front of their own fans as after Elsad Zverotic had cleared Hudson's attempt from the line, Bunn had a strong penalty claim turned down before he fired wide when one on one.
Rodallega punished the miss and gave the home side the lead, pouncing on McCormack's pass to coolly score his sixth goal of the campaign.
Like Fulham, Huddersfield started the season badly but have found form and their resilience was clear to see early in the second half as they pressed to level.
Bunn was denied a seventh goal of the season when Kostas Stafylidis pulled his shot off the goalline and Grant Holt missed a glaring opportunity - volleying over from inside the six-yard box.
Huddersfield's reward for their pressure arrived when Lynch powered his header in, but parity was short lived as midfielder Christensen nut-megged Hudson and lifted the ball over the advancing Alex Smithies for a fine solo goal.
Rodallega wasted a golden chance to kill off Huddersfield - shooting over late on - but McCormack's superb strike with six minutes to go clinched the win.
Fulham boss Kit Symons:
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"The top six is possible. It's a big ask where we come from but my aim is to improve every week. If we can do that then who knows where it will take you.
"The league is wide open. For us to get up there we need to go on a good run which is a monumental task.
"But I was caretaker when we started the run at Crystal Palace. We snuck in for the last day for sixth spot and beat West Ham in the play-off final.
"It can be done but Palace was a long time ago. It's not against the realms (of possibility)."
Huddersfield manager Chris Powell:
"After working so hard to get back in it we made the criminal mistake of falling asleep thinking you have done your job and conceded.
"There's some good footballers in our squad. But if you don't take chances then you are liable to concede. At this level you have to be clinical when on top.
"We are a side that can compete at this level and we have shown that."
Line-ups
Fulham
- 40Bettinelli
- 13ZveroticBooked at 75mins
- 6Bodurov
- 33BurnBooked at 51mins
- 3Stafylidis
- 8Parker
- 21ChristensenBooked at 36mins
- 27WilliamsSubstituted forDembeleat 71'minutes
- 10RuizSubstituted forEisfeldat 85'minutes
- 44McCormack
- 20Rodallega
Substitutes
- 1Kiraly
- 4Hutchinson
- 7Eisfeld
- 14Roberts
- 16Woodrow
- 25Dembele
- 28Hyndman
Huddersfield
- 1Smithies
- 27Smith
- 4Hudson
- 33Lynch
- 3DixonSubstituted forWardat 83'minutes
- 6HoggSubstituted forWellsat 71'minutes
- 10Coady
- 8Butterfield
- 7Scannell
- 16Holt
- 30Bunn
Substitutes
- 11Ward
- 13Murphy
- 15Wallace
- 17Robinson
- 21Wells
- 37Peltier
- 44Poyet
- Referee:
- Andy Woolmer
- Attendance:
- 17,734
Match Stats
Home TeamFulhamAway TeamHuddersfield
- Possession
- Home46%
- Away54%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away16
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away3
- Corners
- Home4
- Away10
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away10
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Fulham 3, Huddersfield Town 1.
Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Tommy Smith.
Foul by Conor Coady (Huddersfield Town).
Scott Parker (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tommy Smith.
Attempt blocked. Grant Holt (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town).
Thomas Eisfeld (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Konstantinos Stafylidis.
Attempt missed. Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Thomas Eisfeld with a cross.
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Konstantinos Stafylidis.
Substitution
Substitution, Fulham. Thomas Eisfeld replaces Bryan Ruiz.
Goal!
Goal! Fulham 3, Huddersfield Town 1. Ross McCormack (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Hugo Rodallega.
Substitution
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Danny Ward replaces Paul Dixon.
Harry Bunn (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ross McCormack (Fulham).
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Elsad Zverotic.
Attempt missed. Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Bryan Ruiz with a headed pass.
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Bryan Ruiz.
Nahki Wells (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Scott Parker (Fulham).
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Bryan Ruiz.
Goal!
Goal! Fulham 2, Huddersfield Town 1. Lasse Vigen Christensen (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Hugo Rodallega.
Goal!
Goal! Fulham 1, Huddersfield Town 1. Joel Lynch (Huddersfield Town) header from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Paul Dixon with a cross following a set piece situation.
Booking
Elsad Zverotic (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Nahki Wells (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Elsad Zverotic (Fulham).
Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Sean Scannell.
Attempt saved. Lasse Vigen Christensen (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ross McCormack.
Substitution
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Nahki Wells replaces Jonathan Hogg.
Substitution
Substitution, Fulham. Moussa Dembele replaces George Williams.
Attempt missed. Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Ross McCormack following a set piece situation.
Foul by Mark Hudson (Huddersfield Town).
Hugo Rodallega (Fulham) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Grant Holt (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from very close range is just a bit too high. Assisted by Paul Dixon with a cross following a set piece situation.
Sean Scannell (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Konstantinos Stafylidis (Fulham).
Attempt blocked. Ross McCormack (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by George Williams.
Attempt missed. Harry Bunn (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jacob Butterfield.