Swansea City Vs. Fulham, 2011 Premier League: Fulham Beaten After Clint Dempsey Nightmare

American hero Clint Dempsey had a remarkably bad day at the office as his Fulham side were beaten 2-0 by Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. After an incredibly quiet first half which featured Swansea dominating possession but completely unable to threaten Mark Schwarzer's goal, Dempsey found himself incredibly unlucky in deflecting a long shot by Scott Sinclair past his helpless goalkeeper to open the scoring in the 56th minute.

Fulham replied by touching the football for what seemed like the first time all match, and the game opened up with chances at both ends. Michel Vorm, who could have taken a nap for the entire first half without anyone noticing, finally had work to do, saving well from Bryan Ruiz and Dempsey before substitute Kemy Agustien rattled the post to give the visitors a scare.

The real drama was yet to come though - in the 87th minute, Cottagers midfielder Kerim Frei was fouled in the box by Ashley Richards and Jon Moss had little choice but to give a penalty. Dempsey stepped up, hoping for his fifth league goal of the season, only to be denied the equaliser by a brilliant acrobatic save from Vorm. To cap off Fulham's night, Danny Graham made it 2-0 Swans at the death.

It's a painful loss for Fulham, who must have expected to get something out of the game after Moss blew for that late spot kick. It's difficult to understand why Martin Jol's men didn't press harder from the beginning rather than waiting for their hosts to score to attack. Had they played properly the whole game, things could have been very different.