Late strike seals it for Fulham

Fulham's attempt to create the good old days of Johnny Haynes and even Bobby Moore and George Best succeeded in dramatic fashion last night as the Second Division nouveau riche knocked out Southampton with a goal in the 85th minute.

It was no more than they deserved as Matt Brazier's long-range shot was pushed out by Paul Jones, but straight to the feet of the £2 million striker Barry Hayles who expertly thrashed the ball into the net.

A visit to Aston Villa in the next round will now test Fulham's big-time pretensions.

The Fulham manager Kevin Keegan got his wish for something approaching a full house after complaining that the fans were not rising to the occasion of the club's ascent from penury.

The financial architect of that jump in status is of course Mohamed Al Fayed who, shy retiring type that he is, made full use of the presence of the television cameras to walk a lap of honour just before the kick-off.

The owner of Harrods milked the standing ovation like a conquering hero, though with no fewer than three bodyguards surrounding him on his procession he was obviously not taking everyone's affection for granted.

The fact that there were some spaces on the terraces was largely due to Southampton not taking up their full allocation of tickets. And who could blame them?

They had lost over two legs to Fulham in the League Cup and could not beat them in the first game of this third-round tie.

The fact that the London side cost £8 million to assemble and Southampton only £5 million also made if difficult to tell which was the Premiership club.

This is the sort of occasion that Keegan and his sugar daddy want to see the Second Division leaders taking part in regularly as they throw cash and the manager's not inconsiderable talent at the task of achieving proper Premiership status.

Undaunted, relegation-threatened Southampton threw themselves bravely into the game last night, starting with three strikers even though they left the fit-again Matthew Le Tissier on the bench.

And it was Dave Jones's side who carved out the first chance after only two minutes when the central of the three strikers, Mark Hughes, set up Hassan Kachloul for a shot which Maik Taylor, playing against his old side, did well to push away.

But Fulham began brightly too, looking full of running and invention. After 11 minutes Ken Monkou whipped the ball off Geoff Horsfield's foot as the striker was about to shoot from close range, then Steve Hayward's 20-yard shot from a tapped free-kick took a deflection which forced Jones into a late dive to turn the ball round the post.

On the half-hour Jones again had to be on his toes as Monkou sliced a clearance in the area, forcing his keeper to back-pedal and tip the ball over the bar.

Given their inferior cutting edge, one would have expected Southampton to be the team making changes at half-time. But it was Fulham who switched things around with a double substitution.

Off came the striker Horsfield to be replaced by Dirk Lehmann up front, and Paul Peschisolido, who had been playing just behind the strikers, was replaced by the midfielder Neil Smith as Keegan switched to a conventional 4-4-2 in front of Fulham's biggest crowd of the season.

This act of consolidation did nothing to weaken the home side's greater threat in the game. Ten minutes into the second half Hayward popped up on the left to fire in a shot from 25 yards which flew just over the bar.

On 65 minutes Fulham set up another chance when the defender Brazier got behind the Southampton defence to the by-line and pulled the ball back into the path of the charging Smith. Unfortunately for Fulham the substitute put an inviting shot well wide.

Southampton's only real chance of the second half to that point was Claus Lundekvam's shot caught acrobatically by Taylor. But shortly afterwards the Premiership club went to plan B and brought on Le Tissier. Once again their hopes rested on the Channel Islands enigma.

A delighted Keegan said afterwards: "We have come a long way in a short time. We are not a Premiership side but we have a terrific chairman and a great set of supporters who really want us to do well.

"Now we have earned the right to go to Villa and we will look forward to that."

Fulham: Taylor, Neilson, Brazier, Finnan, Coleman, Symons, Hayward, Bracewell (Uhlenbeek 75),Horsfield (Smith 36), Peschisolido (Lehmann 46), Hayles. Subs Not Used: Arendse, Salako. Booked: Coleman, Symons. Goal: Hayles 85.

Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Colleter, Monkou, Lundekvam, Hughes, Beattie, Oakley (Le Tissier 63), Ostenstad, Kachloul, Howells (Ripley 87). Subs Not Used: Stensgaard, Hiley, Bridge. Booked: Beattie.

Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury).