English FA Premiership/Charlton - 1 Fulham - 1: Long-standing Charlton supporters are entitled to smile at the fact that their team sit fifth in the Premiership and there is an overwhelming sense of disappointment, but there was no escaping the downbeat feeling among them last night. That was not just because their side failed to take the opportunity to move up to second behind Chelsea but because the display in a poor, cagey game was so far below what they have come to expect.
A Danny Murphy goal two minutes after half-time salvaged a point, the former Liverpool man converting Chris Powell's cross from the left and they would have won had Chris Perry not put a free header wide from a free-kick by the same player in the 74th minute, but a home win would have been undeserved. Charlton's passing and creativity were wretched and they have now taken one point from their past three games here.
Not that Fulham arrived looking intimidating opponents, on the back of three straight defeats in the Premiership. Indeed Chris Coleman's team were close to falling behind inside 10 minutes. A perceptive pass by Murphy enabled Dennis Rommedahl to cut inside a defender and hit a left-foot shot against the base of a post.
In an untidy match punctuated by errors and misplaced passes neither side managed to hold sustained possession. Fulham's use of Collins John alone up front had its downside with the striker rarely providing an outlet by holding up the ball and bringing his team-mates into play, but John was involved in his side's only two openings and would take the third chance that came his way.
The cleanness of the volley with which he gave Fulham the lead in the 27th minute was out of keeping with most of what had gone before. Radostin Kishishev was cautioned for bundling over Claus Jensen, who pushed a quick free-kick to Steed Malbranque, whose cross was hooked in from 16 yards by John.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC (4-5-1): Andersen; Young, Perry, Hreidarsson, Powell; Rommedahl, Smertin (Hughes, 82), Murphy, Kishishev, (El Karkouri, 76), Thomas (Bothroyd, 60); Bent. Subs not used: Myhre, Spector.
FULHAM (4-1-4-1): Crossley; Volz, Goma, Bocanegra, N Jensen; Christanval? (Radzinski, 36); Malbranque, Bouba Diop, C Jensen, Boa Morte; John (McBride, 78). Subs not used: Warner, Helguson, Rosenior.
Referee: M Riley.
Guardian Service
