Football: Millwall add to Fulham misery

LONDON (AFP) - Fulham's dismal start to life outside the Premier League shows no signs of improving as Millwall earned a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Felix Magath's team are playing in the second tier for the first time in 13 years and so far they have found the Championship a distinctly unfriendly environment.

Magath complained about Ipswich's tough tackling when Fulham crashed to a 2-1 defeat on the opening weekend of the season, to which Town boss Mick McCarthy replied "welcome to the Championship".

Millwall had only avoided relegation to League One on the final day of last season, but they have made a bright start to the new campaign, beating Leeds 2-0 last weekend, and they maintained their 100 percent record when winger Martyn Woolford side-footed home in the 12th minute.

Ian Holloway's side needed a fine display from Republic of Ireland goalkeeper David Forde to cling onto that lead as he denied Cameron Burgess, Hugo Rodallega and Ross McCormack.

"We had our chances and missed them," Magath said. "We played very well, but we were not able to score. It's more physical football than in the Premier League but we expected that.

"Our philosophy of working with youngsters has its strengths and weaknesses. I decided to take young players into the squad and I hope they will not be too disappointed and lose confidence.

"I'm sure we will develop with this team and make our point. Today if we had scored it is sure we would have won the game." Top of the table Bournemouth are the only other team with two wins from their opening two matches.

Eddie Howe's side beat promoted Brentford 1-0 thanks to a 66th-minute strike from former West Ham midfielder Junior Stanislas.

Neil Adams finally recorded his first win as Norwich manager at the seventh attempt as the Canaries took advantage of an early Watford red card to secure an emphatic 3-0 success.

Adams picked up just one point in five games as he failed to prevent City from being relegated after replacing Chris Hughton and then saw the Canaries beaten at Wolves last week.

But Watford were struggling from the moment Swedish defender Joel Ekstrand saw red in the second minute and Norwich went on to dominate, with goals from Bradley Johnson, Lewis Grabban and Alex Tettey settling it.

"It's never easy when your opponents go down to 10 men, because they can get men behind the ball, but we were patient, kept the ball really well and eventually got the goals we deserved," Adams said.

"Obviously the win means everything, but it's not about me, it's about the team getting the three points." Cardiff, relegated along with Fulham and Norwich last season, cruised to a 3-1 win over Huddersfield.

Elsewhere, Leeds bounced back from their opening day defeat to snatch a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough through debutant Billy Sharp's 88th minute strike.

There has already been speculation over how long Leeds manager David Hockaday would last given the controversial antics of owner Massimo Cellino, but the Elland Road chief said: "I am the head coach at Leeds United - how tough is that?

"I've been in football for 40 years and pressure is my middle name." Charlton beat Wigan 2-1 courtesy of substitute Franck Moussa's stoppage-time winner at the Valley.

Ryan Hall's second half goal gave Rotherham a 1-0 victory over Wolves in a battle between two sides promoted from League One last season.

Reading defeated Ipswich 1-0, Bolton drew 2-2 with Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday drew 0-0 with Derby.

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