Fulham assistant boss Christian
Damiano rued his side's inability to seal the contest, saying; "It
was the same old problem.
"We had many chances and yet scored few goals. But today was important
because we won.
"Steed Malbranque always has a good attitude, he has the ability to
score and the ability to provide the final ball and in this game he played
very well."
Of the London side misfiring strike force, Damiano added; "I think
if you consider this question that the ability to create is just as important
and we have a lot of new players.
"When Zinedine Zidane and Robert Pires moved to new countries they
needed to adapt and with time we can resolve this problem.
"Today we could not kill the game - at 2-1 we had many chances. We
were not able to seal it and play with confidence."
New Southampton manager Gordon Strachan admitted the better team
won at Craven Cottage as Fulham recorded only their second victory in 10
Premiership games.
Strachan, who took over on the south coast less than a week ago, has seen
his side outplayed in both the 3-3 draw with Ipswich and the 2-1 loss to
last season's First Division champions.
Frenchman Steed Malbranque scored both of the home side's goals, the second
less than a minute after James Beattie had levelled in the first half.
In truth, Jean Tigana's men should have won by a much greater margin, once
again their lack of killer instinct around goal leaving them to sweat until
the final whistle.
Swede Anders Svensson struck the bar from fully 30 yards and substitute
Dan Petrescu had a shot charged down by the hands of Rufus Brevett, although
referee Andy d'Urso failed to spot the incident.
But Strachan was honest in his assessment, as he said; "The better
team won. "The more technical side, the quicker side won the game.
"If we had been a lucky side we might have scraped something out of
it but you can't rely on luck in the Premier League."
Strachan sent on new signing Paul Williams just before half-time as Claus
Lundekvam limped out of the action with a hamstring problem.
It left the Saints manager to admit he will have to act quickly to bolster
his wafer-thin ranks, with the team currently in the bottom three of the
Premiership.
"The players gave as much as their bodies and minds would let them,"
Strachan added. "The players need help and I am told by the coaching
staff that there aren't many more in reserve." Quizzed on whether he
thought the visitors should have been awarded a late spot kick, Strachan
added; "If we were lucky.
"Our hearts kept us in a position and Fulham kept us in a position
where we could have nicked something." |
Source PA Sport by Richard Gibson,