The Carling Cup Match Review: Fulham 6-0 vs. Port Vale; Zoltan Gera, Bobby Zamora Shine with 2 Goals Each
Fulham FC of the English Premier League took on Port Vale from the lower divisions of English league football in the second round match of the Carling Cup at Craven Cottage in London, England. Fulham came to the match at the back of their fantastic two-all draw against Manchester United over the past weekend. The London club were favourites to win the League Cup match against Port Vale considering their superior footballing pedigree.
Fulham and Port Vale both approached the match with an attention to win as Mark Hughes and Micky Adams both deployed their teams with a 4-4-2 setup in mind. Fulham played their powerful striker Bobby Zamora upfront along with Moussa Dembele as the second forward. In midfield, the Cottagers went with their usual arrangement of Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu in central midfield while Damien Duff played on the left side of the midfield and Gera played on the right.
In defence, Fulham played with John Paintsil at the right-back position and Matthew Briggs at the left-back position. These two were shored up by the central defence of Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes. David Stockdale played as the goalkeeper for Mark Hughes’s side. Conversely, Fulham’s adversaries on the night Port Vale used Marc and Justin Richards as their two forwards one behind the other. Sean Rigg and Gary Roberts took up their roles in central midfield for Vale while Griffith and Louis Dodds played as wingers for the lower league side.
At the back, Adam Yates, Lee Collins, John McCombe and Gareth Owen played as the flat back four, and behind them, Stuart Tomlinson took his position in between the goalposts for Port Vale. Fulham started the match off with a bang as the London club propelled themselves into the lead in the 9th minute of the match with a Zoltan Gera header after a Matthew Briggs cross from the left side. Soon after, Port Vale were forced into making their first change of the night as Robert Taylor replaced their injured defender Adam Yates.
Fulham quickly started to dominate the proceedings by controlling the ball in the midfield area and they doubled their lead at the 25th minute mark with Moussa Dembele’s shot from outside the penalty area. Zoltan Gera, who scored the first goal for Fulham, got the assist for their second goal of the night as the Cottagers gained a quick two goals to nil advantage in the match. Fulham exhibited their ruthlessness once again as Bobby Zamora added another goal to their lead in the 35th minute of the match from inside the Port Vale penalty area.
Fulham’s fourth was not far away as right before the referee blew for half time, Zoltan Gera got his second goal of the night by curling the ball into the top left corner of the Port Vale goal. With Gera’s second goal before half time, the match looked over for Port Vale as the score-line stood at Fulham 4, Port Vale 0.
Fulham again emphasized their superiority in the second half as Bobby Zamora grabbed his second goal of the match from a direct free kick which was struck from just outside the Port Vale penalty area. Zamora’s second took the score-line to Fulham 5, Port Vale 0. In the 69th minute of the match, Fulham made it even more embarrassing for the visitors as Clint Dempsey smashed the ball into the bottom left corner of Port Vale’s goal. From there on in, it was an easy ride for Fulham who played the rest of the match on cruise control. In the end, the encounter ended with the score at Fulham 6, Port Vale 0.
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