February 05, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 26, 1429

LONDON, Feb 4: Jimmy Bullard ended Fulham’s miserable winless run in the English Premier League with a stunning late free-kick that clinched a 2-1 victory against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Bullard struck with four minutes to play at Craven Cottage after Simon Davies had cancelled out Fulham defender Aaron Hughes’s own goal against his former club.

Roy Hodgson’s side had gone 14 matches without a win and were in danger of being cast adrift in the battle to avoid relegation, so Bullard’s match-winning performance will give them renewed hope of beating the drop.

Villa’s eight-match unbeaten run in the league is over but manager Martin O’Neill will be just as worried by an injury to Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was forced off at half-time with a hamstring problem that could rule him out of England’s friendly against Switzerland on Wednesday.

Hodgson handed Norweigan striker Erik Nevland his Fulham debut. Nevland, a former Manchester United player, arrived in the transfer window from Dutch club Groningen as Hodgson tried to reinvigorate a team that had won only twice in the league.

Dempsey should have given Fulham the lead soon after the break. The American met Paul Koncheskey’s cross six yards from goal but mistimed his header.

Fulham were made to pay for that miss in the 69th minute as Villa’s set-piece expertise came to the fore again.

Maloney’s corner was flicked on by Olof Mellberg and Hughes, attempting to hook clear, succeeded only in deflecting the ball off his knee and into his own net.

Villa’s lead was shortlived though as Hodgson’s side levelled four minutes later.

Bullard’s cross was perfectly weighted for Davies to run across his marker and glance a shot into the far corner.

But Bullard had already played the provider for his side’s first goal and he wasn’t finished yet.

In the 86th minute, Davies fouled Diomansy Kamara and Bullard stepped up to curl the free-kick past Carson.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Fulham 2 Aston Villa 1

Newcastle United 1 Middlesbrough 1

Played on Saturday:

Birmingham City 1 Derby County 1

Blackburn Rovers 0 Everton 0

Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0

Manchester City 1 Arsenal 3

Portsmouth 1 Chelsea 1

Reading 0 Bolton Wanderers 2

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Manchester United 1

Wigan Athletic 1 West Ham United 0 —Agencies