Fulham on track

ANDY JOHNSON gave Fulham an injury scare after helping secure a comfortable victory over Amkar Perm.

Johnson struck the opener after just three minutes but was forced from the pitch midway through the second half following an outrageous body-check that sent the England striker sprawling.

When he eventually arose from the challenge cynically executed by Dmitry Belorukov, Johnson prodded his left shoulder before leaving the pitch with his arm dangling.

The incident marred an otherwise successful night for Fulham who established a comfortable lead for the second leg with further goals from Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora.

New signing Damien Duff, who joined from Newcastle on Tuesday, made his debut from the bench for the last 15 minutes and had a hand in Zamora’s goal. It was a classy finish by Zamora with the former West Ham marksman also setting up Johnson’s opener in another fine display that suggests he was right to reject a summer move to Hull.

Vitaliy Grishin ensured Amkar, who sit 13th out of 16 in the Russian Premier League, got on the scoresheet with 15 minutes to go and the goal may shape manager Roy Hodgson’s plans for the second leg.

Only three minutes were on the clock when Fulham took the lead through Johnson, though an inspired pass from Zamora was the highlight of the move.

The Russians slipped further behind in the 51st minute following a magnificent strike from Dempsey.

Duff was brought on and had an immediate impact, crossing to substitute Erik Nevland to instigate Fulham’s third.

The Norway striker back headed into the path of Zamora who buried the ball with a blistering shot that gave Narubin no chance.

FULHAM: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Dempsey, Etuhu (Baird 78), Murphy, Gera (Duff 75), Andrew Johnson (Nevland 66), Zamora.

AMKAR PERM: Narubin, Sirakov, Gaal, Drincic, Belorukov, Peev, Cherenchikov, Novakovic (Telkijski 67), Zhilyaev, Jean Carlos (Junuzovic 85), Kushev.

Referee: P Oliveira Alves Garcia (Portugal).