Nevland puts Fulham into seventh heaven

The Fulham substitute scores a first-half winner as Roy Hodgson's men keep up their bid for a surprise European place.

LONDON // Fulham substitute Erik Nevland scored a first-half winner as Roy Hodgson's men kept up their bid for a surprise European place, moving into seventh place. Nevland, the Norwegian, on for the injured Bobby Zamora after 22 minutes, converted a return pass from Andrew Johnson to beat Thomas Sorensen with ease from eight yards. Stoke piled the pressure on in the second half. Ryan Shawcross almost levelled when he rose to meet a corner from Liam Lawrence but his effort bounced over the crossbar in the 68th minute. Ricardo Fuller then squandered another chance by blasting his drive high over the bar. Defeat ended a decent run of results for Stoke and they are not safe yet. [e-mail]