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Fulham striker Steve Marlet too fast for Blackburn
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Fulham 2 Blackburn 0
Fulham at last added finishing to their finesse, after an uneasy start, could
well have beaten Blackburn more heavily. By the end, Blackburn, as even their
manager Graeme Souness admitted, “were guilty of dropping their heads a little”.
Craig Short, their central defender, was sent off near the close for thrusting
an arm at Steve Marlet. And Turkish international Tugay was booked for the fifth
time, meaning both players will now miss the Worthington Cup Final.
Much of Fulham’s football was exuberant with their French attackers, Steed
Malbranque and Marlet, often far too fast and elusive for a Blackburn defence
which owed much to the acrobatics of their goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Things might have been different if only Andrew Cole had scored for Blackburn
after six minutes instead of hitting the left-hand post. Or if on 20 minutes,
Fulham’s giant Dutch goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, had not brought off
a spectacular one-handed save when Damien Duff took a left-wing corner and Henning
Berg sent in a mighty drive which was turned on to the bar. As against all that,
Fulham themselves hit a post later in the half when, after Malbranque had untypically
swung at the ball and missed, Marlet coolly controlled it with his chest then
sent an overhead shot against the upright.
Duff would have another shot saved at full-length by van der Sar, but it was
Fulham now who sparkled and on 31 minutes, took the lead. Marlet surged his
way into the Blackburn box, exchanging passes with Barry Hayles. When Marlet
attempted to shoot, the ball struck Berg’s arm, the linesman waved his
flag for a penalty, only for the ball to reach Hayles, who duly thumped it in.
Early in the second half, an inspired Malbranque made a chance which was wasted
by his compatriot Sylvain Legwinski, but on 63 minutes, in went the second Fulham
goal. Swift and incisive combination between
| Match
Stats |
Fulham |
Rovers |
| Goal
attempts |
13 |
10 |
| On
Target |
8 |
6 |
| Hit
woodwork |
1 |
2 |
| Fouls |
18 |
15 |
| Offsides |
4 |
1 |
| Corners |
4 |
2 |
| Yellows |
3 |
2 |
| Reds |
0 |
1 |
| source:
www.sports.com |
|
Malbranque and Marlet saw the ball swept from left to right, while Blackburn’s
defence could merely look on. When Marlet eventually crossed from the right, Malbranque
banged the ball home. Only yet another gallant save by Friedel kept out a thundering
shot by Marlet.
Short was then sent off near the close, to the anger of Souness. After the first
five minutes, the Blackburn manager said: “I told my bench, somebody’s
going to be sent off in this game.”
Fulham’s assistant manager, Christian Damiano, conceded: “We started
badly and we were lucky in the first 20 minutes. The group reacted very well
and we scored in good time.” Indeed they did.
Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Goma, Collins, Malbranque,
Legwinski, Davis, Marlet (Willock 90), Hayles.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Harley, Saha, Ouaddou.
Booked: Malbranque(02 unsporting behaviour), Melville(03 foul), Marlet(90 foul).
Goals: Hayles 31, Malbranque 63.
Blackburn: Friedel, Tugay, Berg, Short, Curtis (Hignett 68), Taylor, Duff,
Dunn, Jansen (Johansson 90), Cole, Neill (Gillespie 69).
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Hughes.
Sent Off: Short Short (90 foul). Booked: Neill(7 foul), Tugay(81 foul).
Att: 19,580 Ref: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).
Source S. Times by Brian Glanville