F.A. Premiership: Fulham 0 Chelsea 0Chelsea may have extended their unbeaten start to the season last night but Claudio Ranieri will feel his team should have won his 100th match in charge. In a frantic derby high on effort but low on quality, his players wasted three good chances in the second half.
A below-par Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink spurned the first couple and Jesper Gronkjaer allowed Edwin van der Sar to save from a pass by the excellent Frank Lampard. Not that Chelsea had things all their own way in a tight match which saw Fulham carve the better first-half chances and the young defender Robert Huth impressed for Chelsea.
Fulham had come into this game with a 100 per cent record at their temporary home and Chelsea arrived unbeaten this season, so something had to give.
Fulham knew a victory would lift them into third spot with a game in hand on Liverpool and Arsenal. Moreover Fulham were keen to avenge a 1-0 defeat by Chelsea in last season's FA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea were probably glad not to face intense early pressure because their defence was not at its strongest. The captain Marcel Desailly was absent because of injury so Huth, a teenaged German, made his first Premiership start at centre-back.
Amid the rough and tumble Lampard stood out in the centre of Chelsea's midfield. He was not only tackling energetically but made several fine passes and rarely wasted the ball while those around him, including Gianfranco Zola, struggled to exert an influence.
Possession was constantly changing hands and, when there were openings, the final pass was too often poor. That was exemplified when Malbranque was sent scampering into the area but provided a poor cross with Barry Hayles waiting at the near post, enabling Huth to clear.
The end-to-end momentum continued when Hayles went clear on the right as Mario Stanic, not for the first time, was caught out of position in his unfamiliar role at left-back. Again, though, the opportunity came to nothing and, when Hasselbaink was off target for a second time, Chelsea must have felt victory would elude them.
FULHAM (4-4-2): Van der Sar; Ouaddou, Knight, Goma, Wome; Legwinski, Davis, Inamoto (Boa Morte, 63), Malbranque; Hayles, Marlet.
CHELSEA (4-4-2): Cudicini; Melchiot, Gallas, Huth, Stanic; De Lucas, Lampard, Morris, Zenden (Gronkjaer, 66); Zola (Gudjohnsen, 74), Hasselbaink.
Referee: P Durkin.
Guardian Service
Jon Brodkin
at Loftus Road
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