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John Aizlewood at The Times |
Burnley 1 Fulham 1
THESE are troubling times for Burnley. Without a win since October, their initial burst of Premier League adrenaline has subsided into torpor.
Although Wade Elliott's equaliser on the hour gave them a share of the spoils they barely warranted at that moment and the impetus that allowed manager Owen Coyle to suggest they were unfortunate not to have pilfered all those spoils, only Fulham's traditional lack of a cutting edge prevented them from emerging triumphant from Turf Moor for the first time in 58 years. "Any Premier League point is well-earned," noted Coyle. "We could have felt sorry for ourselves after they scored, but we picked ourselves off the floor."
Before Elliott's moment, Fulham had bullied Burnley into a submission the hosts usually save for their travels. At Turf Moor, Burnley usually revel in intensity, but yesterday the visitors began with gusto. Damien Duff spurned two early chances: lobbing over after Bobby Zamora's through ball and then foiled by the agile Brian Jensen.
Indeed, with Duff preying on the fragile Stephen Jordan, Zamora a wily irritant and Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes unyielding, the home side were overrun. Yet, while Fulham smouldered, they never really caught fire.
For all Burnley's ponderousness, they escaped with half-time parity, but their luck ran out five minutes into the second half. With the defence snoozing, Chris Baird took a free kick from the centre circle. Zamora collected, shrugged off Steven Caldwell and shot expertly across Jensen.
Soon Clarke Carlisle was hacking Clint Dempsey's header off the line, following Duff's corner, and it seemed Fulham were in the mood for cruelty. But, while Fulham have myriad qualities, ruthlessness is not one of them and 10 minutes later, Burnley were level with their first and last real chance. Jordan crossed from the left, Hughes inadvertently headed on and Elliott handsomely volleyed home.
At that moment, Fulham's ambition evaporated and Burnley shed their lethargy. The crowd pumped up the volume, claret shirts trundled forwards and Mark Schwarzer looked momentarily shaky, but for all their fizz outside the penalty area, Burnley lacked the guile to cause Fulham real pain.
"I'd probably have taken a point before kick-off," admitted Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, who vehemently denied suggesting Zamora for South Africa 2010. "When Diomansy Kamara and, especially, Andy Johnson return, well be more dangerous in the final third."
Star man: Bobby Zamora (Fulham)
Yellow cards: Fulham: Greening, Konchesky
Referee: M Jones Attendance: 18,397
BURNLEY: Jensen 6, Mears 6, Carlisle 6, Caldwell 6, Jordan 5, Alexander 7, Eagles 6 (Guerrero 86min), Elliott 6, Bikey 7 (McDonald 77min), Blake 6 (Nugent, 56min 6), Fletcher 5
FULHAM: Schwarzer 5, Pantsil 7, Hughes 6, Hangeland 6, Konchesky 6, Duff 7, Greening 5, Baird 6, Dempsey 5, Nevland 5 (Gera 77min), Zamora 7
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