Fulham and Charlton draw blank

Euell missed a golden opportunity to score for Charlton

Fulham 0-0 Charlton
E-mail your reaction to Football Talk

A host of missed chances and some excellent goalkeeping meant that the London derby between Charlton and Fulham ended goalless.

Charlton striker Jason Euell and Fulham's Louis Saha were the main culprits, both making some festive blunders at Craven Cottage.

Euell could only hit the outside of the post when clean through on goal, while Saha hardly made contact with the ball when in a great position.

And fine second-half saves by Edwin van der Sar and Dean Kiely made sure that each team would share the Boxing Day spoils.

  Key moments

22 mins: Jason Euell hits woodwork

45 mins: Louis Saha woefully miscues his shot

46 mins: Edwin van der Sar almost palms ball into his own net

Charlton started the day attempting to set a new post-war club record of 10 consecutive top-flight London derbies undefeated.

And Fulham boss Jean Tigana was intent on putting the 4-0 thrashing by Tottenham behind him, dropping John Collins and Luis Boa Morte.

But Boa Morte was called into action after only 11 minutes as a replacement for the injured Lee Clark.

Both teams settled into their normal pattern of play early on, although at times the game seemed stuck in slow motion mode.

It was a difficult game for us and we didn't play well

Christian Damiano,
Fulham asst. manager

Claus Jensen wastefully dragged an 18-yard drive wide of the Fulham goal when in a great shooting position.

And Charlton's Paul Konchesky hooked a shot over Van der Sar's crossbar after 18 minutes.

Boa Morte soon found himself in referee Steve Bennett's book for diving.

The Portuguese striker opted to take a feeble fall over Graham Stuart's half-tackle on the edge of the Charlton penalty area rather than polish off a flowing move with an effort on goal.

Stubborn resistance

Euell then fluffed a wonderful opening when he tackled dawdling Fulham captain Andy Melville and advanced on goal.

However, he could only hit the outside of the right post from 20 yards with Van der Sar left totally exposed.

No way past for Lisbie

On the stroke of half-time, Saha missed Fulham's best chance of the game.

Steed Malbranque fed Saha down the right, but the French striker totally miscued his shot to the dismay of the home fans.

After the interval, Van der Sar almost gave Charlton the lead.

The Holland international made a complete hash of a tricky Kevin Lisbie cross.

Van der Sar half-palmed the delivery onto his crossbar before gratefully gathering the ball at the second attempt, right on his goal-line.

Sylvain Legwinski fired wide at the other end before Van der Sar redeemed himself with a brilliant double save from Jensen's 18-yard half-volley and Euell's follow-up shot.

On another day we might have taken the points - we put in a decent performance

Alan Curbishley,
Charlton manager

Charlton keeper Kiely made a top-drawer save from an equally-impressive 25-yard Saha free-kick in the 76th minute.

The match ended scrappily, with both sides frustrated by their inability to break down stubborn defences.

Referee Bennett turned down a Fulham penalty appeal when Boa Morte tumbled under Chris Powell's tackle.

And Van der Sar made a great diving save from Robinson and Cottagers sub Collins agonisingly side-footed a yard wide in added time.

---

Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Melville, Goma, Brevett, Legwinski (Collins 63), Malbranque, Davis, Clark (Boa Morte 12), Saha, Hayles.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Ouaddou, Stolcers.
Booked: Boa Morte, Hayles.

Charlton Athletic: Kiely, Fortune, Fish (Costa 45), Konchesky (Robinson 74), Young, Parker (Bart-Williams 79), Stuart, Jensen, Powell, Lisbie, Euell.
Subs Not Used: Johansson, Roberts.
Booked: Parker.

Attendance: 17,900.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).