Bolton, Fulham, Premier League

Footballing World at Craven Cottage

Torrential rain threatened to further affect a match already low on quality but Fulham coped admirably in the adverse conditions that had handed their opponents a goal advantage, and their pluckiness served them well in a narrow but significant victory.

Fulham were six minutes from a shock win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, their early lead maintained for 83 minutes by the fantastic Tony Warner, but the reserve goalkeeper – who again stood in for the injured Antti Niemi – belied his previous heroics when clumsily dropping the ball as he ran into Zat Knight, and former Cottager Heidar Helguson scored the easiest goal of his career.

There was a touch of irony about Helguson’s twelfth-minute strike. Two years ago, the Icelandic international bailed out Warner in a Carling Cup tie at Craven Cottage against West Brom, netting deep into stoppage time to force a 2-2 draw after the former Leeds stopper had embarrassingly miscontrolled a passback to let Kanu score two minutes from time.

On an apocalyptic night in West London however, Helguson was in no mood to save Warner’s blushes and Bolton looked set and ready to robustly defend their slim lead and take three much-needed points back to Lancashire.

The disbelief at the manner of the first of the evening’s three goals was palpable. For the home support, it was a role-reversal of the match at Arsenal, where Fulham, through David Healy, had benefited from a goalkeeping error to take a first-minute advantage.

The renewed confidence and vigour under Lawrie Sanchez was displayed in a four-minute spell when the hosts tore apart Sammy Lee’s tentative Bolton

Another long night looked on the cards for the 21,000 that turned out.

Under Chris Coleman last season, Fulham won just seven times and only once after they had conceded the first goal, so the mood was understandably sullen. Yet the renewed confidence and vigour under Lawrie Sanchez was displayed in a four-minute spell when the hosts tore apart Sammy Lee’s tentative Bolton and turned the game on its head.

Poor defending allowed the ball, on 23 minutes, to fall to Ulsterman Healy, and he finished with aplomb into the top corner; it is two in as many games for the £1.5m signing. On 27, confusion caused by defender Knight’s large presence allowed the ball to fall to the irrepressible Alexei Smertin, whose shot deflected off Gerald Cid and nestled in the left-hand corner. Fulham led, and despite constant pressure from their opponents in the second period, held onto the slender advantage to secure potentially priceless points in the bid for survival.

Fulham, who finished 16th last season, demonstrated greater hunger and enthusiasm than in Coleman’s final 12 months and refused to buckle following Helguson’s goal despite its comicality. And, coming just three days after victory against Arsenal was snatched away Fulham’s resilience was particularly commendable. Hard working and sturdy, Sanchez’s side look equipped for a gruelling campaign yet also seem to have the necessary players and quality to secure Premier League safety.

Coming from behind, as Arsenal had done to them, was the perfect tonic for a capable Fulham team, and the result ought to ignite their campaign after a mixed pre-season. The new signings will inevitably take time to gel and Sanchez’s long-ball tactic cannot always succeed, but the early indicators suggest the prognosis is good.

FULHAM 2 BOLTON 1
Goals: Helguson (12) 0-1; Healy (23) 1-1; Smertin (26) 2-1.

Man of the Match: Alexei Smertin

Fulham (4-4-2): Warner; Baird, Bocanegra, Knight, Konchesky; Davies, Smertin, Davis, Bouazza (Dempsey, 80); Healy (Kamara, 80), McBride. Substitutes not used: Batista, Volz, Diop.

Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Hunt, Cid, Meite, Samuel (Michalik, 90); Nolan, Speed, McCann (Alonso, 76) Anelka; Helguson (Braaten, 72), Diouf. Substitutes not used: Al Habsi, Sinclair.

Referee: L Probert (Gloucestershire).

Attendance: 21,102

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