Fulham 0 0 Brighton
by Kaleem Aftab

“I FELT we looked a bit jaded,” said Fulham boss Scott Parker after his side looked out of sorts following their excellent draw against Liverpool at the weekend.

It was the first scoreless draw in a league match at Craven Cottage since 2011.

Brighton manager Graham Potter said it was “a hard-fought draw” — that’s football manager’s code for a game of few chances, where sweat rather than guile dominates.

Of the two managers it was Potter who would have to say, “I’m not disappointed,” as for 20 minutes in the second half Brighton looked like they would break the deadlock.

Early in the second half, Brighton had the ball in the net. They even did the customary celebration when Adam Lallana slotted past Alphonse Aereola.

But as the ball was making its way to the centre spot, Fulham’s armband-wearing Danish centre back was bellowing “handball.” And VAR found Danny Wellbeck the culprit.

The luckier escape for Fulham came not long after when Adam Webster’s header left the bar and then the painted line of the goal shaking. One

of those moments where the absent fans were no doubt screaming: “How did that stay out?”

Fulham weathered the storm. A statement manager Parker admitted is not one that often applies to his side, hence the lack of scoreless draws. They even threatened upon occasion.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a one-on-one with Roberto Sanchez and hit the ball too close to the keeper, surprisingly brought into the side by Potter.

Another fine save from Ademola Lookman and Potter would use the post-match conference to suggest Sanchez was his new number one.

A look at the table sees both sides just outside the relegation zone looking over their shoulder.

There was little here to suggest that there will be a time this season when either side will be looking up instead of down.