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“A draw at half-time is quite [???],” says Owen Hargreaves. It sounded like “level”, but that might have been a bit circular. Maybe he meant “fair”.
“I’ve never sent you an email,” says Warwick in Hong Kong, “so why not! Andrew K [12:28] couldn’t be more wrong – you can see the passion in both teams and both know the boost that European football could give them. More so, if anything, from Fulham as we know that 3 points at the bus stop is desperately needed if we are to have any chance of Europe. COYW!”
HALF-TIME! Brentford 0-0 Fulham
It’s been frustrating but far from dull. Fulham have been better with the ball, more patient, but Brentford have had their moments. Both sides need to work on their marksmanship: Brentford have had one shot on target out of six, and that’s one more (on both counts) than Fulham. All to play for!
45+2 min Chance! From the corner, to Lewis-Potter, who executes a textbook drag-back, only to lift his shot over the bar.
45+1 min The first of a meagre two added minutes. Thiago gets away on the counter and plays in Damsgaard, who wins a corner.
43 min Off goes Iwobi, to be replaced by Samuel Chukwueze. Marco Silva will be gutted but also glad that he packed the bench with attackers.
42 min A blow for Fulham: Iwobi has gone down off the ball and it looks like a hamstring injury, which could end his season. What a shame.
39 min Chance! Brentford win a free kick and then a corner. Jensen whips it in and Schade, at the near post, gets a good flick … but it’s blocked.
37 min Fulham are winning the battle in midfield, as they often did before Christmas, because Iwobi can drift in from the left to make a diamond. But Brentford are threatening with their long balls, pumped up towards the power of Thiago and the pace of Ouattara.
34 min “Not a lot in it,” says Ally McCoist on TNT. “Maybe Fulham a little more dangerous.”
33 min A nice move from Fulham brings a perpendicular pass to Sessegnon, ghosting into the box, but his shot ends up in Row Z.
31 min Thiago and Bassey have a grapple on Brentford’s right wing, which leads to Thiago tussling with Andersen and both of them lying on the floor. It doesn’t seem to be anything serious.
28 min Another fruitless corner, for Fulham. They do better in the aftermath as Iwobi tees up Andersen, whose shot is blocked.
28 min Another long run, this time by Kayode from his berth at right-back, all the way into the box. But again, nothing doing. Come on guys, you’re in danger of proving Andrew K right.
26 min Lukic, such a good operator, carries the ball about 50 yards and feeds Wilson, who wins a corner … that doesn’t yield an attempt on goal.
24 min Brentford advance down the left, only for Collins to pass the ball straight ou of play. Then they do better as a nice through ball finds Ouattara in the six-yard box, but he can’t get on the end of it and he’s offside anyway.
22 min Fulham live dangerously at the back as Leno is a little too cool with the short passes. When there’s a clear foul outside the box, Tierney plays another advantage, perhaps wrongly, and the attack fizzles out. But it does feel as if both teams have a goal in them.
18 min Brentford break, Thiago plays a neat lay-off and Ouattara is in acres in the No 10 zone. He’s got so much space that he doesn’t know what to do with it. Andersen has time to close him down and the shot, when it finally comes, is anodyne.
17 min Harry Wilson on manoeuvres again. He tries to go round the outside, checks back, gets a nice little chipped cross in – but it’s cleared.
16 min Thomas Frank is watching with wide eyes, as if he can’t quite believe he ever left.
14 min Half-chance for Thiago! In the box, inside-left-ish, he pulls off a smooth turn but, as so often these days, there’s a block.
13 min Brentford string some passes together for the first time today and win a throw-in, which is even better than a corner in their book. Kayode hurls it in, but again Fulham clear with ease.
10 min Half-chance! Fulham race away on the counter and Wilson, dancing in from the right, has a shot blocked. Jensen got away with a foul, and a possible yellow card, as Paul Tierney played the advantage.
9 min Chance! Another corner to Brentford. They take it short and a whipped cross finds the head of Igor Thiago, who can’t quite get enough of a flick to head it inside the post.
8 min Another dud long ball, from Fulham this time. In other news, Thomas Frank is here – the cameras spotted him chatting to a very senior citizen in the crowd.
5 min Lukic goes into the book! For manhandling Kevin Schade, who was turning neatly in the centre circle. Brentford go long again from the free kick, but it’s overhit.
5 min Fulham’s midfield, reinforced by Lukic, enjoy some possession, but then the ball trickles out for a goal kick.
3 min Fulham get into the box and Lukic is breifly unmarked, but a red-and-white shrt nips back to deny him.
2 min Fulham deal with the corner comfortaby. But they’ve already got one thing wrong: their kit. They’re wearing lime green, which should not be allowed on a sunny afternoon.
1 min Brentford kick off, lump the ball forward and Igor Thiago wins a corner!
“Given today’s match between two solid London sides,” says Peter O’Connor, “a poser. If there were an independent state of London, where would its football league figure among the Big Five European leagues?”
That is a good question – too good for me when the kick-off is moments away, but one for everybody to ponder.
As Hey Jude rings out around the ground, the emails keep on coming. “Ask and ye shall receive,” says Karl. “Really like Brentford as a club – a friend of mine is a season-ticket holder and it seems to do it all right, not just on the pitch... However, can I go on record to say that if they qualify for Europe next season, they will be flirting with relegation.
“You (maybe) heard it here first.”
And another one – from a dissenting voice. “Is this the most vanilla fixture in the football league?” asks Andrew K. “No one’s emailing you because no one cares. I can’t think of a fixture between two local rivals that has less fascination and interest for fans other than for the teams’ fans themselves.”
In the football league? That’s a bit harsh. I’m enjoying it already and it hasn’t even started.
An email! From the away end. “Turning up late season at the Gtech with the primary aim being to spoil Brentford’s European ambitions is giving serious déjà vu,” says Kit Clifford-Page, “but a win would put Fulham firmly back in the European conversation so there is everything to play for.
“Hopefully Tom Cairney’s first league start since the horrific home loss to West Ham is better calculated by Silva today and Harry ‘Beekeeper’ Wilson adds to his famous resume. Come on Fulham!”
All quiet on the west London front. If you’ve never sent us an email, now might be a good time.
Teams in full
A tale of two benches … Brentford’s is short of experience and stuffed with defenders, whereas Fulham’s has a full front six and flair to spare.
Brentford (4-2-3-1) Kelleher; Kayode, van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Yarmoliuk, Jensen; Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Shield, Ajer, Pinnock, Stephenson, Nelson, Bentt, Donovan.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Lukic, Cairney; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Robinson, Berge, Reed, King, Bobb, Chukwueze, Jimenez.
Teams in brief: Fulham shake it up
Marco Silva makes four changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Anfield. Sasa Lukic is ready for his first start in three months, but he doesn’t resume his partnership with Sander Berge, who drops to the bench as Tom Cairney comes in. Lukic’s return frees Alex Iwobi to roam forward again. He’ll be cutting in from the left to join Emile Smith Rowe, who replaces Josh King as the 10. At left-back, Ryan Sessegnon is preferred to Antonee Robinson.
Teams in brief: no surprises for Brentford
After seeing Everton grab a last-gasp equaliser last weekend, Keith Andrews sees no reason to change a drawing team. It’s a strong XI but, with Jordan Henderson still ruled out by an unnamed injury, the bench looks a bit skimpy.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to a feast of a weekend in the Premier League. There’s a lot more on the menu than a mere title decider. There’s the Merseyside derby, with Everton at home in their new stadium and, for once, in better shape than Liverpool. There’s Spurs, in spectacular disarray, taking on Brighton, the best team in the league over the past two months. There’s Chelsea, who haven’t scored against a top-flight club for five weeks, facing Man United, who seem to have mislaid all their centre-backs.
And first there’s Brentford v Fulham, which is more appetising than it may look. It’s not just a local derby – it’s a six-pointer that will have a say in who makes it into Europe. If Brentford win, they’ll go from seventh to sixth, above Chelsea, and, if only for a few hours, these quiet over-achievers will be lording it over west London. If Fulham win, they’ll jump from 12th to ninth and draw level on points with Brentford.
The biggest threat on either side is obviously Igor Thiago, the Haaland of the south. But he may have his work cut out because the past three games between these sides have all ended with a win for Fulham. In the reverse fixture, Brentford took an early lead, only to be battered by three goals in six minutes before half-time. One of them was scored by Harry Wilson, who eats Brentford defenders for breakfast. As my colleague Taha Hashim pointed out yesterday, Wilson has four goals in his past 118 minutes against these opponents.
But then that last meeting was seven months ago, before Brentford had got going under Keith Andrews. It left them 17th, while Fulham were eighth (just above Man City), Spurs were third and Liverpool were the runaway leaders. This has been a season in which everybody turned out to be fallible, even the team who have been top for months. And that makes almost every game interesting.
