Fulham and Leicester stalemate

Fulham's Hayles battle for possession with Elliot

Fulham 0-0 Leicester
 E-mail your reaction to Football Talk
 Photo Gallery: See this story in pictures

Fulham brought down the curtain on 105 years at Craven Cottage with a dour, scoreless draw with already relegated Leicester.

In a match with few moments of note and goal chances at a premium, former Fulham boss Micky Adams' side held out for a point.

The result kept Adams' unbeaten record as Foxes manager intact and was some sort of revenge after he was unceremoniously sacked by the London club five years ago.

  Key Moments

3 mins: Dickov shot blocked by Van der Sar

65 mins: Sub Saha misses clear-cut chance for Fulham

72 mins: Marlet header well dealt with by City keeper Walker

Paul Dickov went close early on for Leicester while Cottagers replacement Louis Saha had a glorious second half opportunity to make his mark moments after coming on.

Fulham now leave the Cottage for two seasons to reside at QPR's Loftus Road while their old ground becomes a 30,000 all-seater stadium.

Fulham's Barry Hayles brought the first save of the match from Ian Walker in the opening moments, but his effort went straight at the Leicester goalkeeper.

Almost immediately, City's Dickov slipped into Fulham's penalty but was prevented from scoring by the legs of Cottagers keeper Edwin van der Sar.

After six minutes Dickov was in again. The Scottish international latched onto an astute pass from Muzzy Izzet, but Dickov's left-foot shot flashed right across goal.

Sylvain Legwinski was booked after 24 minutes but he nearly atoned when he rose to head a Steed Malbranque free-kick goalwards only to see his effort fly past a post.

Fulham will leave Craven Cottage while it is being redeveloped

Leicester were proving difficult to break down but once again Fulham's intricate build-up play was floundering at the sharp end.

Just before the interval Sean Davis climbed well for the home side but this time his header fell onto the roof of the net.

After the break Izzet teed up the on-rushing Lee Marshall for Leicester and a shot at goal.

But Marshall's miscued effort sailed harmlessly over the crossbar from 12 yards.

Legwinski had another opportunity to score soon afterwards for Fulham when Steed Malbranque found him with a header. Good work from City's Frank Sinclair saw the defender block well.

Saha then replaced Bjarne Goldbaek just after the hour and in the 65th minute the Frenchman should have scored.

Saha dwelt on the ball inside the City area too long and Walker was able to smother and with it went any chance of a result.

---

Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Goma, Malbranque, Legwinski, Goldbaek, Davis, Hayles, Marlet.
Subs: Taylor, Collins, Knight, Saha, Stolcers.

Leicester: Walker, Rowett, Sinclair, Elliott, Rogers, Savage, Izzet, Marshall, Davidson, Dickov, Piper..
Subs: Royce, Oakes, Stevenson, Ashton, Williamson.

Referee: D Pugh (Bebington)

Attendance: 21,016