Charlton saw their drive for Europe slowed again after a frustrating goalless
draw at Fulham.
The Addicks had created the better of the chances, which were at a premium
this afternoon. Striker Shaun Bartlett, though, could not make the most of
having the ball presented to him in front of goal twice during the first half,
before Fulham stopper Edwin van der Sar's produced a brilliant late save to deny
Paul Konchesky.
For their part, the home side produced form only patches again which has been
the story of their season and is why Chris Coleman's men find themselves
battling for points at the wrong end of the table - not to mention being the
target of much frustration from the disgruntled Craven Cottage faithful.
While Charlton's campaign is, meanwhile, far from over, Alan Curbishley knows
his squad must quickly end a run of four Barclays Premiership matches if they
are to avoid another end-of-season slump.
And they had a great chance to get off to a flying start inside the opening
three minutes.
Konchesky's ball into the penalty box found Danny Murphy. He was given space
to think about a shot, before passing back out to his team-mate on the left
wing.
This time the centre went low across goal towards Bartlett at the far post.
The South African could, though, only manage to stand on the ball, and his
moment's hesitation allowed Alain Goma to throw himself into the firing line and
make a fine reaction block on the goal-line.
Fulham took some time to get going, but created a good chance in the 20th
minute from a left-wing corner when centre-back Zat Knight got up unmarked at
the back post and powered a header just wide as the home crowd finally found
their voice.
Bartlett again spurned a guilt-edged opportunity a couple of minutes later.
Luke Young burst down the right and got to the line. His cut-back along the
six-yard box was just out of Matt Holland's reach, and although Bartlett
eventually got in a shot on the turn at the back post, van der Sar was able to
kick the ball off his line.
In a rare moment of action, Addicks keeper Dean Kiely had to be quick off his
line to bravely collect the ball at the feet of an on-rushing Lee Clark.
As half-time approached, Charlton defender Chris Perry then made a timely
block in front of his own net after Malbranque slipped Clark in on the angle,
and the Fulham skipper had driven over a low cross which cause some concern for
the visitors.
The opening exchanges of the second period did little to warm the atmosphere
at the Cottage, with possession too easily given away by both teams.
It took 15 minutes before any decent opening was created.
Murphy took the ball on his chest, and turned into space around 20 yards out.
The shot from the former Liverpool man was, though, too central to trouble van
der Sar.
As the hour mark approached, the matched showed few signs of coming to life
with the home supporters becoming more and more frustrated at their side's lack
of progress.
Then, in the 59th minute, Bennett had his work cut out to keep control as
tempers threatened to boil over.
Andy Cole chased a long ball forwards, and was hauled back by Talal El
Karkouri three yards outside the Charlton box. The referee had already blown for
a foul, but that did not stop the former England man chasing down the Charlton
defender before pushing him to the floor.
Both players were eventually shown yellow cards when order was restored, and
from the resulting lofted free-kick into the danger area, Goma stabbed the ball
goalwards which Kiely did well to keep the shot out.
With 18 minutes to go Jensen was replaced by young Dutch striker Collins John,
before Addicks boss Alan Curbishley sent on Jonatan Johansson for Thomas.
The move almost paid off when the Finland forward won a corner on the right,
from which van der Sar then pulled off a brilliant one-handed save when
Konchesky fired in a sublime half-volley towards the top-left corner after
collecting the ball on his chest at the angle of the 18-yard-box.
Both sides, though, were forced to settle for a point, which have done little
to boost either manager's cause going into the crucial final few games of their
campaigns at opposite ends of the table.
Teams
Fulham Van der Sar, Bocanegra, Knight, Goma, Rosenior,
Boa Morte, Diop, Jensen (John 73), Clark, Malbranque, Cole.
Subs Not Used: Volz, Legwinski, Crossley, Radzinski.
Booked: Boa Morte, Goma, Cole.
Charlton Kiely, Young, Perry, El Karkouri, Hreidarsson,
Konchesky, Kishishev, Murphy, Holland, Thomas (Johansson 75),
Bartlett.
Subs Not Used: Fish, Euell, Jeffers, Andersen.
Booked: Kishishev, El Karkouri.
Att: 18,290
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook