Dempsey's second Fulham treble crushes Newcastle

A TRANSFORMED Fulham blew Newcastle United away with a glorious second half performance - Clint Dempsey helping himself to a second successive home hat-trick to make a mockery of his team's abject first half.

The USA striker had not scored one in his professional career until the win against Charlton in the FA Cup two weeks ago. He could be developing a good habit at the Cottage.

The Whites did not leave it as late as against Arsenal just after Christmas, but their comeback was every bit as dramatic in a way, as Dempsey's treble and a penalty apiece from Danny Murphy and Bobby Zamora rained in at the Hammersmith End.

You did not have to look far for the main reason for such a change of narrative. On 37 minutes, Martin Jol ditched his ineffective 4-2-3-1 formation in favour of a more conventional 4-4-2 and with sub Andy Johnson reunited with Zamora, the result was mayhem in the Newcastle ranks.

Johnson's pace was again a reminder of his worth when he is alongside Zamora.

Fulham needed just nine minutes to turn the game on its head at the start of the second half.

First Murphy sent keeper Tim Krul the wrong way from the spot after 50 minutes to claim his 50 ^th goal in the Premier League, then Dempsey was Johnny-on-the-spot, bundling in after Zamora had moved smartly onto a fine pass from Johnson and had his shot turned aide by Krul.

A further six minutes and Zamora was again the provider, though more deliberately this time as his slide-rule pass released Dempsey for his second of an increasingly joyous afternoon for home fans.

Two minutes more and Newcastle's nightmare continued, when Johnson burst past Mike Williamson, only to be upended by the advancing Krul. Zamora fired home from the spot, choosing to bury his shot high down the middle.

Few could have foressen such a scenario after a first half in which Fulham were totally outplayed and lucky to trail by a single goal. Newcastle monopolised the ball and must have been thinking they were setting themselves up for a good away win.

A powder-puff curler from Damien Duff on 24 minutes was virtually Fulham's only effort of a forgettable half, although just before the interval, it needed a desperate 'professional foul' from Geordie left back Davide Santon to deny Johnson a clear run on goal as the striker burst from the half way line.

Within five minutes of the restart, Santon was guilty of another significant foul, clattering into Duff on the edge of the area in an incident that ref Lee Mason decided was just inside the box. Murphy duly dispatched the spot kick and the game was instantly transformed.

Santon was maybe lucky to escape with just a yellow in the first half incident, although it did appear a Newcastle defender was racing back to cover.

At the other end in the opening 45 minutes, Shola Ameobi made a nuisance of himself, getting on the end of a couple of dangerous crosses, while both Hatem Ben Arfa and Jonas Guttierez hurried David Stockdale into saves.

Two minutes before the break, the Whites fell behind when Ben Arfa dispossessed Bryan Ruiz – now operating in midfield – and squared for Danny Guthrie to rifle a superb left footer high into the net from the edge of the area.

There was one moment of success for the visitors in the second half when Ben Arfa cut in from the right and drilled past Stockdale at the near post.

That came with five minutes to go and came way too late to deny the Whites a fine win - or even the last word, as Dempsey's third arrived in injury time, with Newcastle's defence all at sea. He now has 15 goals for the season.

Line-up: Stockdale; Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos, Riise (Baird h/t); Sidwell (Johnson 37), Murphy; Ruiz, Dempsey (Frei 90), Duff; Zamora. Subs not used: Etheridge, Gecov, Hughes, Briggs.

Attendance: 25,692.