Fulham 2 Hajduk Split 2 -
(Fulham win 3-2 on agg)
Junichi Inamoto is used to being a hero in the Far East after his exploits for Japan in this summer’s World Cup, but last night he was also the toast of West London after keeping Fulham in the Uefa Cup.
Twice behind in the second leg of their first tie in senior European competition, Fulham were inspired to hit back on each occasion by Steed Malbranque, the former France Under-21 captain, who created their first equaliser for Steve Marlet and scored the second from a twice-taken penalty, after Marlet had been brought down while chasing another of his passes.
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Fulham midfielder Junichi Inamoto kept Fulham in the UEFA Cup with last minute heroics
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Fulham’s inability to capitalise on a number of further chances, though, meant that they owe their place in next week’s draw to Inamoto, on as a substitute, who nodded a header from Mato Neretljak, the Hajduk Split central defender, off the goalline in injury time.
Marlet and Sean Davis had squandered second-half openings created by Malbranque and with Stipe Pletikosa, the Croatia goalkeeper, joining in a last-ditch attack at a corner, Fulham nearly paid the price.
“We were delighted to win, with a little bit of luck at the end,” Christian Damiano, the Fulham assistant manager, said. He agreed that Malbranque has been one of the best of Fulham’s signings at a relatively modest £4.5 million from Lyons in the summer of 2001. “The more difficult the game, the more he is able to adapt and find a solution,” Damiano said. “He showed he has a big talent.”
Malbranque had to show it sooner than expected with Hajduk, who were supposed to be a team with even greater goalscoring problems than Fulham, taking the lead after five minutes. Vlatko Dolonga, the left back, took a free kick from a central position that Edwin Van der Sar appeared to have covered but Steve Davis, jumping in the middle of the defensive wall, deflected the ball past him.
Fulham took that blow in their stride, however, and Malbranque, the scorer of the only goal in Croatia 15 days ago, was also the architect of Fulham’s reply 15 minutes later, playing a pass perfectly into the stride of Facundo Sava. Although Hrvoje Vukovic had anticipated the danger, the full back’s tackle only sent the ball into the path of Marlet, who converted with ease.
Fulham looked to build on that and another goal seemed inevitable, but it was the visiting team who scored next, five minutes before the interval, when Hrvoje Vejic, the central defender, headed in Mario Carevic’s corner from the left.
That gave Hajduk the advantage on away goals, but Fulham cancelled it out almost immediately. Barely two minutes after scoring, Vejic was adjudged to have brought down Marlet as he charged on to a pass by Malbranque, who stayed cool to score from the penalty. He had to do it again, though, after Stefano Farina, the referee, indicated that he had not blown his whistle before the first kick.
“I don’t believe it was a penalty,” Zoran Vulic, the Hajduk coach, said. “I don’t want to talk about referees, but this was basically the difference between rich and poor. One Fulham player is worth more than our entire stadium — it’s just an observation. We’re probably equal as teams, but we missed a bit of luck.”
According to Andy Melville, the Fulham captain, “things were said” at half-time, but obviously nothing about tightening up in defence, in either dressing-room. Marlet failed to make contact with an ungainly swipe at Malbranque’s exquisite chip, Zvonimir Deranja hit air six yards out instead of Bule’s low cross and Davis volleyed six yards wide from as many yards out when Marlet, set up — inevitably — by Malbranque, had found him unmarked in front of goal. But thanks to Inamoto’s late intervention, Fulham’s misses will be forgiven.
FULHAM (4-4-2):
E van der Sar — A Ouaddou, Z Knight, A Melville, R Brevett — S Legwinski, S Davis, S Malbranque, L Boa Morte (sub: J Inamoto, 67min) — S Marlet, F Sava (sub: B Hayles, 74). Substitutes not used: M Taylor, L Clark, J Collins, P Womé, D Leacock. Booked: Melville, Brevett.
HAJDUK SPLIT (4-2-3-1):
S Pletikosa — H Vukovic, H Vejic, M Neretljak, V Dolonga — D Miladin, S Andric — D Srna, N Bule, M Carevic (sub: A Mise, 84) — Z Deranja (sub: D Racunica, 71). Substitutes not used: Z Runje, I Piric, I Radeljic, D Brgles, H Gudelj. Booked: Carevic, Srna.
Referee: S Farina (Italy).