Fulham Under-23s were made to fight for a point against Norwich City on Friday night, with the game finishing goalless.
Despite going down to 10-men midway through the second half, the side defended defiantly to take a deserved point.
The hosts enjoyed control of the game in the early stages but it was the young Whites who showed their threat first.
Fabio Carvalho made a powerful run down the right before sliding in a low cross. The ball evaded everyone and fell to Adrion Pajaziti at the back post. His effort was well blocked by a defender and quickly cleared.
Sylvester Jasper had an opportunity on nine minutes, which came in a similar fashion to the first. Carvalho again fired a low ball across the face of goal but Jasper’s attempt was blocked.
Fulham came close yet again just a few minutes later. After a number of shots were heroically blocked by the Norwich defence, the ball fell to Pajaziti on the edge of the box, who smashed it over.
After a fairly quiet spell, Tom Dickson-Peters nearly found an opener for Norwich five minutes before half-time. Tony Springett latched onto the end of a clever ball down the left before curling a cross towards the number nine, who was heading towards the back-post. Luckily for the visitors, he couldn’t quite reach it.
Norwich goalkeeper Jon McCracken was tested soon after the break. Marlon Fossey found Tyrese Francois on the edge of the box, whose left-footed shot was beaten away by the ‘keeper, who was at full-stretch.
Fulham were forced to do some defending of their own not long after. Dickson-Peters received the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty box but his stinging effort was brilliantly blocked by a flying Connor McAvoy.
Mark Pembridge and Colin Omogbehin’s side found themselves in a great position to grab a goal on 59 minutes. After an error in midfield from the hosts, the young Whites found themselves in a four versus three situation. The ball made its way to Jasper on the left, but his attempted pass towards Carvalho fired into the side netting.
The task was made a lot harder in the 65th minute, with substitute Sonny Hilton shown a red card for a challenge on Melvin Sitti.
The hosts subsequently took control of the game after the sending off, with substitute Jon Tomkinson heading just wide after finding some space on the edge of the six-yard box.
The young Canaries continued to push for the win but were unable to break down a resilient Fulham defence.
Team Lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Fossey, McAvoy, Duru, Murphy; Francois, Harris, Pajaziti, Carvalho, Tiehi, Jasper
Subs:
Schwarzer, J Aina, Hilton, Davis, Taylor-Crossdale