Burton Albion 0-2 Fulham
- Published
Stefan Johansen puts Fulham ahead with his seventh goal of the season
Fulham moved to within three points of the play-offs with victory at Championship strugglers Burton Albion.
In a first half of few chances, Burton midfielder Lloyd Dyer was denied by the legs of David Button, while Scott Malone fired inches wide for Fulham.
The visitors went ahead through Stefan Johansen's shot from the edge of the box three minutes after the break.
Johansen twice went close to grabbing a second before Malone fired into the roof of the net to secure the victory.
The game was Burton manager Nigel Clough's first in charge since ruling out a return to former club Nottingham Forest.
The Brewers remain in relegation trouble in 21st place and only three points clear of the drop zone.
Fulham move up to ninth after they secured their first Championship away victory of 2017.
Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough:
"Fulham were too good for us tonight. There was a big gulf in quality and the disappointing thing was that we gave the first goal away with a mistake and you can't afford to do that against such good players.
"We got through the first half by being solid without doing that much ourselves and we restricted them to not very much.
"We have to be better on the ball ourselves and our set-plays weren't great. When you don't have that much possession you have to make the most of set-plays and tonight we didn't."
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic:
"I can be satisfied with our performance. We tried to play our style and move the ball from side to side in the first half but Burton closed us down. We had possession of the ball but we could not create much.
"Fortunately we tried to open the field up a bit in the second half and we got a goal early at the start of the half and that made it easier for us to win the game.
"I am not talking about the top six. That is for 7 May and when we know where we are going to finish this competition. I prefer to think about the next step and the next chance to get three points."