Premier League: Fulham 2 Sunderland 1

Fulham moved above Liverpool on the Premier League table into eighth place with a 2-1 win over Sunderland at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

American international Clint Dempsey gave the home side the lead with a splendid strike from a free-kick for his 18th league goal of the season.

Martin O’Neill’s side drew level when Phil Bardsley fired a powerful effort past Mark Schwarzer after a good attacking move by the Black Cats.

But that parity lasted only seconds as Moussa Dembele carried the ball from his own half before shooting at goal, and a deflection took the ball into the net to restore Fulham’s lead which was enough to give them all three points.

The game started as a scrappy affair as neither side was able to maintain possession for lengthy periods of the opening 10 minutes and chances were few and far between.

However, Fulham took the lead through Dempsey with a magnificent free-kick as he curled an effort into the top corner from 25 yards, placing the ball out of the reach of Simon Mignolet after Lee Cattermole had fouled Mahamadou Diarra outside the area.

The Black Cats nearly responded through Stephane Sessegnon after a good move down the right as the 27-year-old skilfully beat Brede Hangeland before firing at goal but his shot was excellently saved by Schwarzer.

Martin Jol’s side were beginning to take control of the game as the half wore on and could have gone further ahead if not for a superb block by Michael Turner as he denied Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Despite Fulham’s dominance in possession, O’Neill’s team got an equaliser through Bardsley who blasted a shot into the bottom corner after good build-up play down the left between Jack Colback and Ji Dong-Won, who found the full-back unmarked on the edge of the area.

Sunderland’s joy was short-lived, however, as the Cottagers regained the lead just seconds after conceding.

Dembele drove at the Black Cats defence before firing a left-footed shot from 20 yards into the top corner with the ball taking a slight deflection on its way past Mignolet.

Fulham came out confident in the second half and nearly added to their lead five minutes after the restart but Dempsey’s goal-bound shot from the edge of the area was cleared off the line by Colback with Mignolet beaten.

The home team upped the ante looking to kill the game as Damien Duff raided down the right and cut inside, beating Bardsley before firing a vicious left-footed shot at goal which was well saved by Mignolet who was quickly on his feet to scoop up the rebound.

Sunderland should have drawn level in the 77th minute when Nicklas Bendtner nodded the ball into Fraizer Campbell’s path six yards from goal but the England man could only fire wide of the post much to the frustration of his team-mates.

The Black Cats pressed for an equaliser but were unable to find a way through the Cottagers defence which put them at risk from Fulham counterattacks.

Sunderland came close late on through Campbell again but his effort was well saved by Schwarzer as the home side were able to hold out to secure the win.