Match Report Preston North End (0) 1-1 (1) Fulham Championship Match Day 20 2122 at Deepdale Saturday 27th November 2021    KO: 12:30 Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire) Live on SkySports

Fulham defender Tim Ream

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Fulham missed the chance to open a significant gap at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table for the second time in four days as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Preston.

On Wednesday night, they failed to find a way past stricken bottom club Derby, but the game at Deepdale started positively and they took the lead when Tim Ream poked home from inside the six-yard box.

Preston kept chances of a potentially decisive second to a minimum and then earned a share of the spoils when substitute Ched Evans bundled a well-deserved equaliser, despite suspicions of handball.

The Cottagers remain in first place a point ahead of Bournemouth - who drew 2-2 with Coventry late in the afternoon - while Preston sit 16th, seven points outside the top six.

With Aleksandar Mitrovic back after missing the midweek draw with Derby, Fulham received a huge boost - not least due to the fact he had scored more goals against Preston than any other team in his career.

But after a typically dominant start from the Championship front-runners, the first goal of the game came from an unlikely source. When Jean Michael Seri delivered a well-hit free-kick from the right flank, Ream was on hand to nip between defenders and poke in his first goal since Boxing Day 2017.

Match Stats	Preston	Fulham
Goals	(0) 1	1 (1)
Scorers	Evans 72	Ream 15
Goal attempts	15	9
On target	4	2
Shooting Accuracy	29%	22%
Possession	48%	52%
Passes Success	72%	77%
Corners	4	4
Tackles Success	70%	73%
Saves	1	3
Fouls	10	13
Offsides	2	1
Yellows	2	2
Reds	0	0
source: SkySports

Preston did not let their heads drop, though, and it was they who created the better openings from there, with Emil Riis getting the better of Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo on a number occasions, though the Dane was unable to apply the finishing touches.

Fulham struggled to get control of the game after the restart, too, allowing Riis to fire in another warning shot. After his long throw was repelled, he soon had the ball back at his feet and managed to hit a low shot from 18 yards that Marek Rodak had to be alert to hold.

On the hour mark, Evans - who had scored in North End's midweek win over Middlesbrough - was introduced. And 12 minutes after later, he brought the hosts level from close-range, though there were suspicions of handball from both himself and Riis when Ben Whiteman delivered his corner from the left.

Fulham probed for a winner in the closing stages, but after a below-par performance across the board, it failed to materialise.

Preston's Frankie McAvoy: "We needed to be strong and to show discipline today, and I thought we did that. Don't forget every one of Fulham's players have played in the Premier League, so we knew it would be tough.

I was disappointed with the way we conceded the early goal, and that put us on the back foot a bit, but we were much better in the second half and so credit to the players for that. There was a bit of controversy with our goal. I've seen it back, and I'm not sure there was much in it.

Fulham's Marco Silva: "That was a big mistake from the referee and the linesman. There was an elbow in there and then a clear handball before the ball goes over the line. It's difficult for us to accept, but again the referee had a bad performance. We've ended up losing two points, and it's not been our fault again. We had a similar situation against Coventry recently. It was a really tough game for us, but that's just what we expected.

"It's been a really difficult week for us, having to play until 10pm on Wednesday night and then coming here for an early Saturday match. That isn't an excuse though. It should be up to us to create more problems for the opposition. I saw a good reaction from the players in the first half, but the second half was much different. It wasn't the best from us, and some players do need to improve further, but it's another point on the road and it is an important one."

Fulham are next in action on Friday, December 3, when they host Bournemouth at 7.45pm - in a game live on Sky Sports.

Preston North End: Iversen, Lindsay, van den Berg, Hughes (Cunningham 94), McCann, Barkhuizen (Storey 53), Whiteman, Earl, Browne, Riis Jakobsen, Maguire (Evans 60)

Unused substitutes: Hudson, Sinclair, Johnson, Ledson,

Goals:
Evans 72 (an attempt from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Emil Riis Jakobsen following a corner.)

Booked: van den Berg (26,d), Evans (80,d),

Fulham: Rodak, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Odoi, Ream, Seri (Onomah 69), Kebano (De Cordova-Reid 69), Wilson, Carvalho (Knockaert 81), Reed, Mitrovic

Unused substitutes: Gazzaniga, Tete, Rodrigo Muniz, Hector

Goals:
Ream 15 (left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jean Michael Seri with a cross following a set piece situation.)

Booked: Robinson (48,f), Onomah (80,f),

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)

Attendance: 9,838