London: Stoke City survived a second-half fightback by Fulham to secure a lively 3-2 Premier League win over the Londoners at a snowy Britannia Stadium.
The night's solitary League match went ahead in sub-zero temperatures and Stoke looked to have it in the bag after racing into a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Tuncay Sanli opened the scoring with a close-range header following a corner after 12 minutes.
Poor Fulham defending allowed Abdoulaye Faye to turn in a Matthew Etherington free kick after 34 minutes and a nice move ended with Mamady Sidibe slotting in the third.
Fulham pulled one back with a deflected Damien Duff goal and when Clint Dempsey looped in a 30-metre shot five minutes from time the home fans had to endure nervous moments before celebrating the end of a run of three successive defeats.
Stoke climbed to 10th in the table on 24 points, one place and three points behind Fulham.
Tuesday's League Cup semi-final first leg between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa was postponed as heavy snow made the areas around the ground dangerous. Wednesday's semi between Manchester City and Manchester United has also been postponed.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, January 06, 2010, 10:33