Southampton 1 (1) Fulham 1 (0)
Fulham boss Jean Tigana will be relieved to have ended a miserable run of six
successive Premiership defeats but his Fulham side were left to regret a series
of chances that would have guaranteed them a valuable away win against a Southampton
side who struggled throughout to find any rhythm or purpose.
If Fulham fail to recover from a rapid decline in form to retain their Premiership
status, they will look back on the first half of their first visit to St Mary's
during which they wasted four clear chances with only the goalkeeper to beat
on each occasion.
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Fulham striker Steve Marlet celebrates his life saving goal
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The Saints were in benevolent mood, their back four all making mistakes in front
of uncertain goalkeeper Paul Jones, who gave away the only chance Fulham managed
to accept in a curious opening 45 minutes.
Jones was clearly at fault with Fulham's seventh goal from their French striker
Steve Marlet, who took full advantage of the Welsh international's reluctance
to come for a long pass out of defence from Sylvan Legwinski - but even then
the goalkeeper reached the ball first before losing possession as he slid at
Marlet's feet.
Fulham had opportunities to add to their lead and even Wayne Bridge, seemingly
heading for the World Cup finals with England, was not immune from error, being
dispossessed three minutes later by the eager Barry Hayles and only for Jones'
legs to prevent a second.
Paul Williams, who has been so reliable throughout Southampton's recovery this
season, was the next to err, losing possession to Hayles who delayed his shot
and was driven wide of the target by Jones.
In between the Saints had fashioned an unlikely equaliser when Jason Dodd found
Rory Delap unmarked inside the area to score with a left-foot shot from 12 yards.
The next Southampton blunder came in the 29th minute with Delap losing possession
in the centre circle allowing Steed Malbranque to race clear and hit the outside
of the post with Jones unprotected again.
Furious home manager Gordon Strachan had seen enough and raced from his bench
seat to remonstrate with his defence.
| Match Stats |
Soton |
Fulham |
| Goal attempts |
11 |
7 |
| On Target |
6 |
2 |
| Hit woodwork |
1 |
1 |
| Fouls |
12 |
17 |
| Offsides |
5 |
3 |
| Corners |
6 |
7 |
| Yellows |
1 |
1 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source:
www.sports.com |
While the home side improved after the break, Fulham were in no mood to surrender
a hard-earned point which at least ended their recent sorry sequence of Premiership
failures. But the main incident of note in the second half came when Stra chan,
his arms flailing, grabbed the ball well outside his technical area and proceeded
to berate Delap for a mistake, although the irate Scot could have chosen any
one of his team for the same treatment.
Fulham always looked the more likely to score again and the busy Davis exchanged
passes with Marlet on the edge of the area before shooting over while Jones,
his uncertainty still evident, was fortunate when Dodd headed off the line from
Marlet nine minutes later.
Strachan sent on Kevin Davies in the 72nd minute in place of the ineffective
Marian Pahars and six minutes later, the replacement came close to snatching
what would have been an undeserved winner. Davies beat Fulham goalkeeper Van
Der Sar with a low drive, which hit the base of a post before coming out.
Fulham also hit the woodwork two minutes later when Louis Saha, who had begun
the match on the bench, hit the outside of a post with a drive and in the end,
both sides appeared happy to settle for a point which inches them closer to
the golden vision of Premiership safety.
Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, Williams, Bridge, Delap, Oakley,
Telfer, Svensson (Tessem 73), Pahars (Davies 74), Ormerod.
Subs not used: Moss, Fernandes, Monk.
Booked: Delap.
Goals: Delap 22.
Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Goma, Melville, Brevett, Collins (Harley
84), Davis (Saha 71), Legwinski, Malbranque, Hayles (Boa Morte 72), Marlet.
Subs not used: Taylor, Knight.
Booked: Brevett(44, UB)
Goals: Marlet 7.
Att: 31,616 Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).