Player Ratings: Fulham 2-1 Stoke City

Commanding display, which was vital during Stoke's late assault on Fulham's penalthy area.

Handled the threat of Etherington capably and made some fine raids down the right flank.

Provided the assist for Pogrebnyak's goal with the mis-hit shot that was gathered so impressively by the Russian and worked like a Trojan down the left flank all afternoon.

A middleweight among heavywieghts, the Irishman punched above his weight in a tigerish display.

In the land of the giants, the Norwegian centre-back stood out. Dealt impressively with the combined 13ft might of Crouch and Jones.

Pulled the strings from a deeper midfield role than normal but it was to the veteran's credit that Fulham did not look impoverished without a natural anchorman. Subbed late on.

His knees might be like bread but can still cook up a storm on the right flank. Ran rings round Wilkinson on a few occasions and played a key role in Fulham's opener.

A debut to remember for the deadline day signing. Took his 15th minute goal brilliantly, killing Riise's mis-hit shot with his first touch and banging the ball past the despairing Sorensen with his second. There was barely a backlift in sight. Subbed after an hour.

Hit-and-miss contribution from the Costa Rican. His velcro touch in a withdrawn striker role got him in some good positions but lacked the acceleration and power to cause genuine damage.

Demonstrated another string to his bow with a classy display in central midfield. Stroked the ball around imperiously and with deceptive leisureliness, and laid the ball to Dempsey for the second goal.

Misjudged both Fulham's goals, even though he was extremely unfortunate that he tipped Dempsey's shot on to the crossbar, only to feel it rebound off his back and into the net. Made an excellent save from Duff to prevent Fulham going 3-0 up by half-time.

Stoke's outstanding deender was dominant in the air but he was not so impressive on the deck, allowing Pogrebnyak and Dempsey too much space for the two first-half goals. Gave his team a lifeline with his flicked header late on.

His failure to pull a goal back seconds into the second half from just three yards summed up a poor afternoon's work for the 2010 World Cup centre-back. Lacked sharpness and did not get tight enough to Fulham's attackers for both first-half goals.

Provided drive and energy from central midfield, and was influential in his team's revival in the last half-hour.

A square peg in a round hole at right-back as Stoke's experiment of swapping the full-backs around failed miserably. Could not get to grips with Dempsey. Looked far more comfortable when he was switched to the left.

Did not see enough of the ball and, when he did, failed to make the most of it. Withdrawn after an hour.

A touch of desperation to his first-half display when he was completely out-manouevred in central midfield. Grew in authority as the game progressed.

Did not impress after being handed a rare start alongside Crouch. Almost anonymous in a withdrawn striker role and subbed midway through the second period.

Bustling display on the right flank before moving to the left following Stoke's second-half reshuffle. His final ball lacked quality.

Provided nuisance value and a considerable target for the late onslaught but unable to quite make his presence felt.