Fulham fought back to grab a crucial three points against Norwich on Boxing Day at Carrow Road, as Scott Parker’s late winner sealed a 2-1 comeback win.
Norwich went ahead through Gary Hooper’s strike, but Pajtim Kasami’s free kick leveled things up at the break. Parker’s winner was a thing of beauty as Sascha Riether’s cross found him after the Canaries failed to clear and the English midfielder hammered home to give Rene Muelensteen’s men all three points.
With the victory, Fulham are now in 18th spot and are just one point from West Ham and Cardiff above the relegation zone. As for Norwich, they’re in 14th and are just three points ahead of Fulham.
Early on Norwich pressed and Nathan Redmond’s great run and cross down the left almost found Hooper in the box but the Cottagers cleared the danger.
However in the 13th minute Norwich took the lead as Hooper scored for the fourth home game in a row after Johan Elmander laid the ball off to the in form striker whose shot took a hefty deflection off Aaron Hughes and into the net.
Norwich pushed for a second as Fulham looked devoid of ideas going forward and struggled to keep hold of the ball. However the Canaries didn’t take their chances and Kasami made them pay with his 32nd minute free kick that somehow squeezed through the wall and into the back of the net.
Fulham had another great chance through Damien Duff, but the Irish winger couldn’t quite connect on a lovely cross that found him unmarked at the back post as the sides went in level at the break.
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The second half saw a tight encounter play out as Norwich went close to going ahead in the 51st minute when Leroy Fer’s header was cleared off the line by Riether. But Fulham hit straight-back as Adel Taarabt was clean through but John Ruddy stopped him with a comfortable stop.
In the 64th minute Fer once again headed in on goal from a corner, but this time the Dutchman’s effort was straight at Stockdale who saved. But Fulham were coming back as Kačaniklić found Sidwell in the box and the English midfielder danced past a tackle but saw his effort on goal blocked. Soon after Kačaniklić’s corner bounced around in the box and Hugo Rodallega thought the ball had crossed the line but Ruddy managed to gather and keep it out.
But Fulham’s pressure told, as Parker popped up to score the stunning winner in the 87th minute and give the Cottagers more hope of moving out of the bottom three.
LINEUPS
Norwich City: Ruddy; Whittaker, Turner, Bassong, Olsson; Snodgrass (Hoolahan, 72), Fer, Johnson, Redmond; Elmander (van Wolfswinkel, 63), Hooper.
Goal: Hooper (13)
Fulham: Stockdale; Riether, Hughes, Amorebieta, Richardson; Sidwell, Parker, Kasami; Duff, (Rodallega, 58) Taarabt (Dejagah, 72), Kačaniklić (Riise, 92)
Goals: Kasami (32), (Parker (85)
