Barclays Player of the Month for February, Mark Schwarzer, thought a draw was a fair result in Saturday’s goalless FA Cup Quarter-Final with Tottenham Hotspur, although he admitted a tinge of regret that Fulham didn’t capitalise on their home advantage.
“I think it was fair,” he assessed. “It was a little bit disappointing because we had a few decent chances, but they had some half chances too.
“It’s a little disappointing when you’re playing at home because you think you have that bit of an upper hand, but they’re a very, very good side and I think overall it was a fair enough result.”
The Aussie stopper had to be on his toes to deny a driven first-half effort from Niko Kranjcar and a header from Peter Crouch amongst a few other chances, but on the whole had a reasonably quiet afternoon in a match that never quite ignited into an FA Cup classic.
“I think the action came in spits and spurts,” he reflected. “There were periods of the game when it was open and exciting, but overall I think it was one of those games where they were happy enough to be able to draw and take us back to White Hart Lane for a replay.
“Our plan was very much the same as it is every week. To play football, with quick movement, passing the ball well and trying to keep our shape - and we did that well today. Obviously we tried to nick a goal – and we had our opportunities - but it just didn’t work out for us.”
The result means that Fulham will now have to travel to North London for a replay, adding yet another fixture to an already jam-packed list. By the time the game comes around it will be the team’s 50th of the season, but you won’t find Schwarzer complaining.
“This is what you play football for, these exciting games,” he said. “Today we played Tottenham in the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup, next we play Juve twice, with Manchester United in between, there’s Manchester City after that and then Tottenham again!
“It doesn’t get much better than this, so we’ll just enjoy it.”