PREM: Fulham 0-2 Crystal Palace

Jeffrey Schlupp wheels away after scoring the first goal of the game

Wilfried Zaha opened his account for the new Premier League season as Crystal Palace beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

It was Jeffrey Schlupp who scored the opener in the 41st minute, hammering high into the net on a tight angle for his first Palace goal.

Zaha - who was the subject of transfer rumours during the summer - doubled the lead with 11 minutes to play after new Fulham goalkeeper Fabri came off his line, leaving the goal open for the forward to slot home.

 

It is already a marked improvement on Palace's start to last season, where they failed to score or win in their opening seven Premier League games, while Fulham looked bright in the first half but tired as the game went on.

 

Fulham began well, and could have gone ahead inside 10 minutes. Ryan Sessegnon's ball across the face of goal was just missed by Andre Schurrle and the German was involved again not long afterwards, cutting the ball back for Aleksandar Mitrovic, but his effort went straight into the hands of Wayne Hennessey.

 

Crystal Palace could have broken the deadlock bang on the half-hour mark as Andros Townsend's cross from the right was met by the rising head of Christian Benteke, but he was denied by a fingertip save from Fabri, the £5m summer acquisition from Besiktas.

 

But Palace did get the opener 11 minutes later. After good play between Townsend and Patrick Van Aanholt, it was the latter who picked out Schlupp in the box. He got ahead of Calum Chambers before hammering the ball over the top of Fabri at the near post.

It could have been two just minutes later as Van Aanholt scored a very similar goal to the first after Zaha's lay-off - this time over on the right - but he was correctly flagged offside.

The second half was a much quieter affair, but there was a flurry of activity around the hour mark. Schurrle was denied a penalty after having his feet swept from beneath him by Mamadou Sakho, before the goalkeepers were called into action. After a knockdown from Benteke, Zaha saw his effort saved by Fabri before Hennessey again denied Mitrovic, this time from a header.

 

But Zaha put the result beyond doubt in the 79th minute. Aaron Wan-Bissaka made a driving run before threading the ball through for Zaha, who easily got in between the two central defenders. He then rounded the oncoming Fabri - who had come out to smother the ball - before slotting into an empty net to seal victory.