Blackburn Rovers vs Fulham ends in a draw
A truly amazing yet evenly matched encounter was seen when Blackburn Rovers hosted Fulham. Blackburn under Sam Allardyce have been able to establish itself as one of the tough teams as it aims to finish in the top half of the table.
With the inclusion of a good attacking pair and star midfield, Blackburn aimed to capitalize on Fulham, who have recently lost their star attacker Bobby Zamora to a knee injury.
In the 8th minute of the match Robinson kicked long and Schwarzer tried to come and collect the ball but was unable to reach the ball and was left stranded on the edge of the area. Pedersen then tried a lob from distance,
but Brede Hangeland had recovered brilliantly and headed clear from the goal line. On the 12th minute, there were lengthy periods of time which were taken up by Pedersen whenever there was a throw in. He always gets handed a towel and, almost lovingly,
polishes the ball until it is completely dry. Then he launched a long throw towards the near post - this time Hughes and Hangeland ended up challenging each other for the header, and Fulham got it clear. That was the first header Blackburn could not win, or
caused Fulham problems on.
In the 29th minute, Hangeland made a clumsy challenge as he just ran straight through Diouf on the halfway line as the striker turned with the ball. From the resulting free kick which was hoisted into the penalty area,
Schwarzer tried to come for the ball but could not make it through a crowd of players and fell over in the process. Chris Samba then raised clear from the melee of players and got a head onto the ball which bounced into the empty net. Fulham are adamant that
Schwarzer was impeded there, and they may well have a point! 1-0 to Blackburn. The away side then sought a come back from the controversial goal and managed to force Blackburn back. This was followed by a period of one touch passes and flicks which eventually
ended when the ball was rolled out to the left back, Carlos Salcido, who bent a brilliant shot on his right foot which Robinson, at full stretch, just managed to tip wide of his left hand post!
At half time the score stayed level and Mark Hughes looked to change things in the squad. In the second half, Fulham attacked in number, which created havoc in the home side’s camp. On the 56th minute mark, Dempsey headed
home at the near post! 1-1! Fulham forced their way back into the match and it was a lovely cross from Salcido at left back, and Dempsey overcame Samba to the ball and left Robinson with no chance for a save. In the 70th minute, Mark Schwarzer came
forward to stop a cross, and again he failed to claim the ball! It fell to Diouf who whipped a cross across the goal, but Hughes managed to kick it clear for a throw. Schwarzer was having a shocker. He wanted a foul, but Mame Diouf had every right to challenge
for that, and he challenged fairly.
Three minutes were added to a traditional ninety minutes but there was no way through for these sides. The score stayed one all and both sides would be delighted to have extracted at least a point from this encounter.
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