Birmingham
1 Fulham 1
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Carlos Bocanegra
puts Fulham in front |
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New Fulham manager Roy Hodgson
saw his side pick up a rare away point after surviving
a second-half battering from Birmingham and the sending off of
Hameur Bouazza for
two bookable offences.
Hodgson, who officially takes charge tomorrow, watched Carlos Bocanegra head the
Cottagers in front after seven minutes and dominate the opening half.
Blues were transformed after the break and fully deserved their equaliser from Sebastian
Larsson before Bouazza
was
given his marching orders with 10 minutes remaining.
But Fulham, beaten 5-1 at Tottenham on Boxing Day, held on to share the spoils despite
being forced back for long periods.
Hodgson will be encouraged by the resilience shown by his side with Dejan Stefanovic
dominating in the air at the heart of the visitors' defence.
But it needed
one of the saves of the season from
Antti Niemi to deny Franck Queudrue
a spectacular winner.
Fulham showed more poise and composure in the opening period with Danny Murphy influential
in midfield while Bouazza and Paul Konchesky exploited space down the left flank.
But Blues were a different proposition in the second period with Mehdi Nafti having
a positive effect after his introduction in the centre of the park.
| Match Stats |
Birm |
Fulham |
|
Goals |
1 |
1 |
|
Possession |
50% |
50% |
|
Goal attempts |
18 |
11 |
|
On Target |
6 |
7 |
|
Corners |
8 |
6 |
|
Off-sides |
2 |
2 |
|
Saves |
5 |
6 |
|
Fouls |
13 |
14 |
|
Yellows |
0 |
3 |
|
Reds |
0 |
1 |
|
source: Soccernet |
Fulham, showing five changes from the side hammered 5-1 at White Hart Lane, went close inside the first 30 seconds.
The recalled David Healy tried his luck from 25 yards and his fierce curling drive
beat the stranded Blues keeper Maik Taylor but floated inches wide.
The visitors began confidently and Danny Murphy had a fierce shot blocked by Larsson
but after four minutes Gary McSheffrey squandered a golden chance to put City ahead.
Mikael Forssell's
pass released the former Coventry player who outstripped Konchesky
to leave himself with only Niemi to beat but from eight yards out he lofted his
shot over the bar.
This miss proved costly for the home side as after seven minutes slack marking allowed
Bocanegra to put Fulham in front.
Bouazza won the first corner of the game which was taken by Simon Davies and no-one
picked up the run to the near post of Bocanegra who headed home.
Taylor then had to react sharply to cling onto a low first-time effort from Healy
as both defences looked suspect in the swirling wind.
Birmingham defender Queudrue should have done better when found in space by Fabrice
Muamba on the left side of the Fulham box as he sliced his shot high over the bar.
Muamba burst in between two defenders and into the Fulham box but Niemi was well
positioned to deal with his low drive away to his left.
The home side seemed almost incapable of dealing with crosses into the box and most of the problems were coming from the Fulham left flank.
Taylor saved a low effort from Clint Dempsey before Blues showed some signs of coming
to life as half-time approached with Niemi getting his body behind a low shot on
the turn from Forssell.
Blues dominated the opening period of the second half and after 56 minutes Larsson
brought the home side back on level terms.
Muamba spotted the run of the Swedish international and he had time to cut inside
and beat Niemi with a low drive into the corner of the net.
Nafti was only just too high with a dipping 25-yard drive with Fulham now completely
on the defensive.
Niemi produced a superb save to turn over a rasping Queudrue volley after initially
punching out a McSheffrey free-kick.
Then came the red card for Bouazza who, having already been booked for protesting
in the aftermath of Larsson's equaliser, was sent off after bringing down Queudrue.
Birmingham manager Alex Mcleish:
"There was a wee bit of apprehension, they were unsettled by the conditions - the
wind was swirling and it suited Fulham in the first half and us in the second half.
"The worst enemy for any footballer, they will tell you, is the wind and Fulham
stroked it about and had chances, although we had the best chance of all in the
first half with McSheffrey.
"We got a great reaction in the second half and after the equaliser we could have
gone on and won but Niemi made a fantastic save."
Fulham caretaker-boss Ray Lewington:
"We played fantastically well in the first half but we couldn't get the second goal.
"They were always going to come back into it at some stage and when they did they
scored, which made for a difficult second half.
"When we get the ball we can actually play and we proved that. We had a gutsy performance,
we passed the ball really well and created some opportunities."
Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Kelly, Jaidi, Ridgewell, Queudrue, McSheffrey, Muamba,
Johnson (Nafti 45), Larsson (De Ridder 73), Forssell (O'Connor 77), Jerome.
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Sadler.
Goals: Larsson 55.
Fulham: Niemi, Omozusi, Stefanovic, Bocanegra, Konchesky, Davies, Murphy
(Smertin 70), Davis, Bouazza, Dempsey, Healy (Kuqi 74).
Subs Not Used: Warner, Kamara Leijer.
Booked: Bouazza (63,f) Konchesky (65,f) Davies (80,f)
Sent off: Bouazza (79,2y(f))
Goals:
Bocanegra 8. (Headed goal into bottom-left of goal from left side
of six-yard box. Assist (cross) by Simon Davies from left by-line.)
Att: 28,923
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)