Fulham in box seat as Jol defeats adversary Ramos
FULHAM (3) vs DNIPRO (0)
FULHAM boss Martin Jol praised his side’s discipline after taking a giant stride towards the Europa League group stage.
Aaron Hughes netted the opener before Clint Dempsey struck twice to earn the Cottagers a comfortable win in the play-off first leg. Jol said: “Even 2-0 at half-time we said we mustn’t let them score, because 2-1 is probably a bad result. So we were happy to score three goals and not concede. We know they’re difficult to play away from home.”
Victory also granted Jol bragging rights over Dnipro boss Juande Ramos, who infamously replaced him at Tottenham in 2007.
Young full-back Matthew Briggs shone for Fulham, crossing for Hughes’s goal and posing a threat down the left. Dempsey was left unmarked to finish Steve Sidwell’s centre for the second and rounded off the scoring with a header.