BRENTFORD and Fulham shared the spoils in a West London derby, which lacked quality and failed to ignite, reports the Voice of Sport from the Gtech Community Stadium.
With 9 minutes gone, Mathias Jenson crossed the ball crossed the ball to Dango Outtara but his header was wide of the post. After the midway point Outtara went on a run with the ball but his shot was comfortably gathered by Bernd Leno.
Fulham hold Arsenal in entertaining derby
Just before the break Brentford defender Keane Lewis-Potter showed some neat footwork as the ball came to him from a corner but he put his shot over the bar. That summed up a lacklustre first half with not much happening considering both teams are trying to qualify for Europe. One other thing of note was the injury to Alex Iwobi (hamstring) and he was replaced by his Nigerian compatriot Samuel Chukwueze.
Just before the hour mark Brentford wide man Outtara hit a shot, which was comfortably saved by Leno. A lovely ball was floated into the Fulham area, which was met by Mikkel Damsgaard but his attempted chip was wide of the post.
With 5 minutes of the game to go the quality was still not there as both teams struggled to string passes together to create a sustained onslaught on either side’s goal. At one stage both fans were restless as this west London derby failed to ignite. It had a feel of a end of season game.
In the 90th minute due to excellent pressing from Igor Thiago, Fulham turned over the ball and from a cross Outtara forced a point blank save from Leno as he tipped his shot over the bar. That could have won the game. The game ended with Fulham not registering a single shot on target. This was Brentford’s fifth draw in a row in the Premier league. Ultimately, both teams failed to consolidate their quest for a place in Europe.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews said: “Five draws but I cannot think of a game where we created more opportunities but we lacked the quality. I do not think they had a shot on target. It leaves us 7th with others yet to play. We go into an amazing game next week against Manchester United.
“This game is poignant because it showcases where we have come from in seven months. When we went to Fulham earlier in the season they were the better team. What a save by Leno. If we had scored that everyone would have been buzzing in the dressing room.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva said: “It was not the result we wanted. When you come here you come with a mission to win the game. We should not be please. We played better in the first half. We completely changed our three midfielders. We did not give them a chance to press man to man. Ryan Sessegnon in a good position did not find the target.
“The second half started the same way but we lost our legs in the last 30 minutes. There was a big chance, which Leno saved but we cannot lose the ball in the manner we did. We wanted to win the game. We were not as strong as them with balls in the box. One point is not what we wanted but we move on with a clean sheet. No shots on target is a concern but I do not want to talk about it.
On Iwobi’s injury he told the Voice of Sport: “The next 48 hours will give us a clear picture of his situation. We have five games to go. Let us hope it is not that serious. He is an important player for us and other players will have to step up.”