YOU wait nine years for a league game to end goalless at Craven Cottage and then two come along at the same time.

Southampton came closest to winning the game, with James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick thundering off the crossbar and a late Theo Walcott goal ruled out by the lines drawn in the VAR studio. Shane Long also had an effort ruled out by VAR. 

In truth, it was a good game for Fulham manager Scott Parker to miss. He was tucked up in self-isolation after a member of his family caught coronavirus and his assistant Stuart Gray took charge of a game played out in intermittent freezing rain. 

Fulham started confidently, befitting a side that have turned a corner in their season. This was their fourth consecutive draw, and they have lost only once in the past six. No longer a soft touch and porous at the back, Parker’s shrewd deadline day defensive signings have given the team a solidity not seen since Roy Hodgson’s days. They have become hard to break down, but also struggle to turn their possession into opportunities. 

Gray was in the dugout but admitted that the instructions were also coming from Parker at home. “The gaffer was on the phone the whole time and spoke to the players at half-time through the computer. He helped decide the substitutions.” 

Southampton were happy to contain Fulham and pick their moments. The gameplay was designed this week by manager Ralph Hassenhuttl, who was forced into making three changes from the side who lost to Manchester City with Oriol Romeu, Jannik Vestergaard and Danny Ings absent through injury. 

“It’s tough when you come to Craven Cottage,” said Hassenhuttl. “If you concede a goal, it’s very hard to come back here. It’s a tight pitch that is more for pressing and not so much for playing football; it’s difficult to get behind the lines and create chances.” 

While it was hard to take issue with the VAR decisions on the offsides, Hassenhuttl thought Southampton should have got a penalty when a cross hit the arm of Ola Aina. “I think it was handball, but we could live with a point.”