Half-Time Report: Moussa Dembele gives Fulham slender half-time advantage

Moussa Dembele's brace has given Fulham a 2-1 half-time lead over Derby County in tonight's fourth-round League Cup tie at Craven Cottage.

Both sides had half-chances in the opening ten minutes, with Chris Martin firing at Gabor Kiraly for the visitors before Dembele tested Kelle Roos at the other end.

Roos was kept busy in the opening exchanges, as he was then called upon to deny Dembele again and then Stephen Arthurworrey.

In the 27th minute, the young forward pounced on Craig Forsyth's dreadful backpass and calmly finished to give the Cottagers the lead.

As half time drew closer, Johnny Russell was handed two chances to restore parity for Derby.

First, he bent his strike narrowly wide after neat work from Simon Dawkins before firing at Kiraly when one-on-one.

The miss proved costly as Dembele doubled the hosts' lead a minute before the break, but Derby were gifted a lifeline in stoppage time as the referee spotted a handball inside the area and Martin halved the deficit with the last kick of the first period.