Leeds United have taken a 1-0 lead into half time of their Championship clash with struggling Fulham at Craven Cottage this evening.
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The hosts created the first chance of the match as former Leeds duo Matt Smith and Ross McCormack combined, but the latter was denied by Marco Silvestri having advanced into the box.
Silvestri was the busier of the two keepers in the opening exchanges and was called into action again twice in quick succession shortly afterwards, first denying a Bryan Ruiz chip before turning a Konstantinos Stafylidis effort round the post.
Fulham continued to apply pressure as Smith tested Silvestri before Ruiz struck the crossbar directly from the resulting corner.
Smith was proving to be a handful in the air against his former club and came close again in the 18th minute having again been set up by McCormack. The big striker met his partner's free kick but sent his header narrowly wide of the target.
Leeds had to wait until midway through the half for their first shot, and it was a simple one for Marcus Bettinelli as he comfortably held Giuseppe Bellusci's 35-yard effort.
McCormack had the ball in the back of the net on the half-hour mark, but his effort was ruled out for offside and it was Leeds who went on to break the deadlock against the run of play 10 minutes later.
Gaetano Berardi was the creator, lifting a cross into the box that found an unmarked Sam Byram, who applied the finish from close range.
That proved to be the final opening of the half as Leeds went into the break holding a slender advantage.
Barney Corkhill
