It was a tale of two halves at St. Andrews on Saturday as Fulham drew with Birmingham City.
Fulham dominated the first half of Saturday’s pre-season friendly and could have easily put the tie beyond doubt after creating a host of opportunities in the first period of play.
Simon Davies earned the Whites the lead after 17 minutes with a fine strike from the edge of the area but Fulham’s dominance was apparent from the off when Bobby Zamora almost opened the scoring with his first touch of the game.
Zamora, partnered with Seol Ki-Hyeon in attack, drifted down the left flank from kick-off. The striker latched onto a speculative pass over the top of Birmingham’s defence and fired off a first time left footed volley in on goal from the left hand side of the area. The ball dipped over the bar but it was a fine effort by Zamora.
Mark Schwarzer had a quiet first period in goal but commanded his area when called upon. The only moment of danger for Fulham came in the seventh minute when John Pantsil almost conceded a penalty after a late challenge on the 18 yard line. The resulting free-kick was smashed against the wall.
Zamora almost opened the scoring with another fine volley on 10 minutes. After collecting the ball on the edge of his own area, Jimmy Bullard attempted to find Seol down the left flank with a 30 yard pass over Birmingham’s defence. Kelly’s headed clearance fell to Zamora 30 yards from goal. The striker unleashed another ferocious volley which again dipped over the top of Taylor’s bar. Fulham’s midfield quartet is shaping up nicely. Gera and Davies provide width and with Murphy and Bullard providing the ammunition the balance looks set for the new season
Fulham took the lead on 17 minutes through Simon Davies. The Welsh captain opened the scoring with a clinical finish after capitalising on a defensive error by the home side. Davies intercepted a misplaced pass between the home side’s defence and raced free 40 yards from goal for a one-on-one with Maik Taylor. Davies reached the edge of the area, assessed the keeper’s position and fired a low drive into the bottom right hand corner.
The most impressive aspect of Fulham’s first half performance was the team’s movement and the players were clearly enjoying themselves. It was another fine passage of play which saw Seol almost double Fulham’s lead after 30 minutes of play.
After spraying the ball around in the middle of the park Murphy found Seol’s run with a pass which cut through the heart of Birmingham’s defence. Seol had only Taylor to beat from 12 yards but the keeper made a fine save to his left to deny Fulham a second.
Chances were few and far between during the final ten minutes of the first half. Fulham continued to dominate possession and were by far the happier team going into the break.
Roy Hodgson made one substitution for the second half, introducing his latest summer signing, Fredrik Stoor. The Swedish international took up his natural position on the right hand side of defence in place of John Pantsil, who impressed during the first half with another solid defensive performance.
Birmingham came back into the game during the opening exchanges of the second half and Marcus Bent’s introduction certainly gave the home side a more threatening attacking edge.
Fulham’s first shot of the second half came after 55 minutes. A Jimmy Bullard corner was headed clear to Paul Konchesky 40 yards from goal. The defender’s left footed strike from distance was worth a crack but the shot blazed over Taylor’s bar.
Birmingham almost pulled the game level on the hour mark. Paul Konchesky conceded a free-kick down the left channel and the quickly taken set piece was headed just over Schwarzer’s bar. Fulham’s keeper was required to pull off a fine save moments later, punching clear a dangerous cross from the left flank.
Roy Hodgson freshened up his attack on 65 minutes, introducing US international Eddie Johnson for Bobby Zamora. Zamora produced two fine volleys in the first half and will count himself unfortunate not to have added to the goal he scored against Celtic on his Fulham debut two weeks earlier.
Fulham’s attempts on target were few and far between in the second half and in the main came from distance. Danny Murphy tried his luck on 70 minutes after some good interplay between Johnson and Seol down the right flank. The ball was played into Murphy 25 yards from goal in a central position. Murphy’s right footed shot blazed over and moments later Hodgson replaced his central midfield partnership of Murphy and Bullard for Davis and Andreasen.
Fulham had two good chances in as many minutes following Hodgson’s double substitution. With his second touch of the game Davis hit the outside of the post with a right footed shot from the edge of the area. Moments later Zoltan Gera’s header from the left hand side of the area was well saved by Taylor.
Sebastian Larsson brought the home side level on 77 minutes after latching onto Cameron Jerome’s through ball down the right channel. Larsson collected the ball on the right hand side of the area and sent his low right footed drive into Schwarzer’s far corner.
Hodgson made two further substitutions during the final 10 minutes from time, replacing Seol Ki-Hyeon with David Healy in attack and Toni Kallio for the ever impressive Simon Davies.
Leon Andreasen tested Maik Taylor five minutes from time with a fierce drive from 25 yards. The shot was struck directly at the keeper who spilled the ball but recovered well to smother the ball before Fulham’s strike force could capitalise.
Birmingham were unfortunate not to grab a winner in the 88th minute after a productive spell of possession. Fortunately for Fulham Davis was on hand to clear off the line following a headed attempt on goal.
Two minutes of added time were indicated by the Fourth Official before the Referee blew for fulltime. On reflection a draw was a fair result and it was certainly a tale of two halves at St. Andrews on Saturday.
Fulham will now prepare for their final home game of the season, a home tie against Italian outfit Torino at the Cottage next Saturday.|
Saturday's Teams
Birmingham City
Maik Taylor, David Murphy, Stephen Kelly, Radhi Jaidi, Liam Ridgewell, Jordon Mutch, Sebastian Larsson, Gary McSheffrey, Lee Carsley (C), Kevin Phillips, Gary O'Connor
Subs: Colin Doyle (GK), martin Taylor, Cameron Jerome, Mehdi Nafti, James McFadden, Franck Queudrue, Stuart Parnaby, Marcus Bent
Fulham
Mark Schwarzer, John Pantsil, Paul Konchesky, Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, Simon Davies, Zoltan Gera, Danny Murphy (C), Jimmy Bullard, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Bobby Zamora
Subs: David Stockdale (GK), Fredrik Stoor, David Healy, Eddie Johnson, Steven Davis, Leon Andreasen, Toni Kallio
