Crusaders 1-3 Fulham Europa League 2nd qualifying round first leg.
Martin Jol moved to bring John Arne Riise back to English football this week, reuniting him with his younger brother Bjorn Helge, but it was another left-back who stole the show for the Cottagers. 20 year old Matthew Briggs was hugely impressive, scoring the opening goal and putting in a very mature display. After Chris Smalling's move to Old Trafford, have Fulham unearthed another defensive prodigy?
Fulham arrived in Belfast against a backdrop of last week's violence after last week's Orange marches but thankfully the match was played in a very good atmosphere. Seaview's 4G pitch proved to be a decent surface on which to play neat one-touch passing, rather than the death trap Jol had feared.
Although fairly dominant in the opening exchanges, Fulham had to wait until the 39th minute before breaking the deadlock. The ball was only partially cleared from a corner and landed at the feet of Matthew Briggs who steadied himself before lashing a left-foot shot into the top corner past a helpless Sean O'Neill.
It appeared Fulham would come out in the hunt for more goals in the second half but it was the home side who stunned Mark Schwarzer with an equaliser. Striker Timothy Adamson had barely been in the game when in the 54th minute he juggled the ball with his right before volleying clinically home with his left. It was a fine individual effort and brought back memories of James McCarthy's strike for Wigan v.s Blackburn last season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2VcbjAc_t0
Fulham's patience was finally rewarded, however, when they scored twice in three minutes to take a significant 3-1 lead back to West London for next Thursday's second leg. First, Zamora found space at the near post to head home from a Murphy corner. Then, Andy Johnson won a penalty for his side as he saw his shot blocked by an arm. Danny Murphy coolly slotted home the resulting spot-kick.
Still some way to go for Fulham before they reach Premier League form nevertheless this was a professional display against the runners-up of last year's IFA Premiership. Martin Jol will no doubt be concerned that their season began as early as 30th June and will want survival assured long before the spring as fatigue will no doubt set in.
Patrick Kendrick
No comments:
Post a Comment