More woe for Magath as Fulham lose
Reading 3 Fulham 0
Matt Smith was sent off on his Fulham debut as a fifth defeat in six Championship games heaped the pressure on manager Felix Magath.
The striker, signed from Leeds on deadline day, was shown a straight red card just 18 minutes into the game for a dangerously high challenge on Jordan Obita.
The Royals were already 1-0 up after Glenn Murray bagged the first of two headed goals before substitute Nick Blackman added a third just before the end.
Many of the 2,700 travelling Fulham fans chanted for Magath to be sacked, and booed the team off at the end with their side bottom of the table with just a single point.
And it was hardly surprising after defending as familiar as it was dreadful allowed on-loan Crystal Palace striker Murray to score for the Royals on 15 minutes.
Magath reunited Smith with former Leeds team-mate Ross McCormack up front as one of three changes, with 38-year-old goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly also making his debut.
But a reckless and forceful challenge that met Obita’s leg just below the knee saw that partnership come to a swift end, and Fuham lacked fight from then on.
Only Chris David threatened, with a vicious shot that was saved just before half-time, before Kiraly made a string of saves in an attempt to keep his team in the game.
Yet Kiraly was far from his line when Murray headed in the second from a corner midway through the second half, and he was then rounded easily by Blackman for Reading’s third late on.
Fulham (4-4-2): Kiraly; Voser (Zverotic 55), Burn, Bodorov, Kavanagh; Hoogland, Parker, David (Roberts 78), Hyndman (Christensen 46); McCormack, Smith
Subs not used: Bettinelli, Satfylidis, Hutchinson, Rodallega.
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13/09/2014 @ 5:13 pm
Totally dreadful – we couldn’t possibly have done worse had we been able to scrape survival in the EPL – on this form we’ll reach the depths of 91st and possibly beat that in a shorter time than it took to do the reverse trip upwards. What’s to be done?? Well something, nothing is not an option! I guess we need a saviour – billionaire or not the cash must be splashed – but more importantly to be led by someone we can all believe in! Tony Pullis??