Fulham 1 Burnley 1
Steed Malbranque was Fulham's scoring hero again at Loftus Road today as he saved Jean Tigana from an FA Cup exit against First Division Burnley.
The French midfielder scored a 44th-minute volley to earn a draw and a replay of this fifth-round tie at Turf Moor a week on Wednesday.
All but one of the eight goals the Cottagers have notched in their last five games have been scored by the Stg£4.5million man, who is the club's top scorer with a dozen strikes this season.
In the third minute, Alan Moore had danced through the Fulham back line to beat Maik Taylor and give the Clarets hope of a cup shock.
Tigana's side hit back strongly in this full-blooded contest and equalised through Malbranque - but Stan Ternent's men then held firm and deserved to go into the hat for tomorrow's quarter-final draw.
But the big talking point at Loftus Road was the pitiful attendance - just 13,069, including 3,000 from Lancashire, and embarrassingly 632 fewer than the crowd for QPR's 4-0 win against Port Vale in the Second Division yesterday.
Burnley made a barnstorming start and roared into the lead courtesy of Moore with just three minutes on the clock. And Fulham's Sean Davis, in the midweek England squad, was the villain with a sloppy pass which gifted the Clarets possession.
The Irishman Moore nipped in ahead of Steve Finnan, leaving Andy Melville for dead and slotting the ball under Taylor from eight yards.
The Premiership then posed the greater threat in front of goal and Malbranque made his mark in the 44th minute, scoring a spectacular equaliser.
He controlled Ian Cox's half-clearance and dispatched an angled volley beyond Marlon Beresford's dive and into the right side of the net.
Burnley continued to hold on and Marlet moved into attack when Junichi Inamoto came off the bench with 18 minutes left.
Tigana's positional switch almost produced immediate dividends, with Marlet connecting with Malbranque's cross and forcing Beresford into action for the last real chance of the match.