Fulham 3-2 QPR: Hosts see off second-half move from struggling QPR - Yahoo! Activities

An earlier Dimitar Berbatov brace and a Clint Hill own purpose were just enough to secure all three points forAFulham against an established QPR area within an action-packed West London derby, with the Cottagers securing for a 3-2 result. A seasoned and regimented Fulham side began the stronger of both teams, making out good early odds while maintaining the QPR fighting force from increasing. Their pressure repaid when Christopher Samba was pushed into scything down Ashkan Dejagah just inside the QPR punishment region after eight minutes, leaving referee Lee Probert with little choice but to indicate the location. Berbatov moved up and coolly place the ball away past Julio Cesar to provide an important early lead to the home area. Fulham's importance continued in full force right from the system as a lackluster QPR area looked nervous at the back, and that weakness culminated in an awful mistake from Samba after 22 minutes that talented Berbatov with his second goal of the overall game. The major Congolese defense took too long on the ball and lost property inside their own penalty area, letting the Bulgarian to get rid in-front of target and comfortably side-foot the ball in to the bottom corner of the net. The lead was then expanded to three targets with 5 minutes left to play in the first half, when, struggling to deal with a combination from John Arne Riise, Hill set the ball in to the back of his own web with his shoulder. Down 3-0 after only 41 minutes, QPR looked dead and buried, but Taarabt was available to draw a goal right back at the conclusion of the first half with a great solo work that ended with him shooting in an easy low shot past an outstretched Mark Schwarzer. Spurred on by Taarabt's purpose, QPR started the 2nd half in top gear and was rewarded with a after 48 minutes when Giorgios Karagounis fouled Taarabt on the edge of the penalty area. The spot-kick responsibility was directed at Loic Remy, but Schwarzer was in a position to hand the Frenchman's tame energy into the way of Damien Duff who cleared the ball from danger. The guests continued fighting at full power, though, and Remy was able to atone for his miss when he put his part back to the game just three minutes later with a bomb of a shot that bounced off the crossbar and over the line. In marked contrast to the very first half, QPR kept on leading foot for the rest of the 2nd half, and things went from bad to worse for Fulham when Steve Sidwell was found a straight red card for a obstacle on Armand Traore with a little more than 10 minutes left to play. Despite a plethora of odds, the guests were struggling to capitalize on the one person edge and a visibly nervy home side was able to carry on for the remaining minutes to secure a hard-fought win and reject QPR a memorable and essential return and keep the club in dire trouble to be directed.