Dembele Goes Down In 2-0 Fulham Loss To Stoke City

Fulham were on the road today against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. This was the third round of the Carling Cup. Going into the game manager Mark Hughes put out a really strong lineup. Unfortunately, this was not the Cottagers day. Fulham lost to Stoke City 2-0. 

Also, in stoppage time Moussa Dembele went down with a possible injury that could be serious. He had to be taken off in a stretcher. With Bobby Zamora out with a long term injury, Fulham could be in some trouble if Dembele is out for an extended period of time. I will be updating the Dembele potential injury when more information is available.

On the game, Stoke City got on the board midway through the first half. In the 23rd minute, Matthew Etherington sent a corner kick towards the far post which was headed in by Danny Higginbotham. Stoke took the lead and ended the half up 1-0.

In the second half, Stoke City put the game away with a little more than 10 minutes left. In the 79th minute, Rory Delap performed an excellent long throw which was headed in by Kenwyne Jones. Mark Schwarzer had a chance to get to the ball but missed. Down two goals, Fulham would have a tough time coming back in just over 10 minutes plus stoppage time. Stoke City would win this game 2-0 and advance in the the Carling Cup.

This was Fulham's first defeat this season. The loss hurts, but the bigger issue could be the health of promising striker Moussa Dembele. As I mentioned earlier I will be updating his situation when more information becomes available.     

Fulham's next match will be this Saturday, September 25th against Everton. The game takes place at 3PM UK time and 10 AM EST.