Fulham denied by late Baggies leveller

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Fulham 1 West Brom 1

Somen Tchoyi’s late equaliser did nothing to lighten the mood of Fulham fans unhappy at the sale of Bobby Zamora.

Boss Martin Jol was unable to field an out-and-out striker following Zamora’s deadline day move to QPR and in a tight first half his team struggled in front of goal.

Clint Dempsey raised their spirits when he turned and fired past keeper Ben Foster in the 70th minute.

But substitute Tchoyi slotted home James Morrison’s flick to give Albion’s former Fulham boss Roy Hodgson a deserved point on his return to Craven Cottage.

Only twice this season have the Whites failed to score at home, with a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa on the opening day followed by a 5-0 drubbing by Manchester United before Christmas.

And it looked as though this game would be the third with Dempsey, an attacking midfielder by trade, the furthest man forward ahead of a five-man midfield leaving Fulham without a recognised striker.

The American had the ball in the net as early as the 11th minute when he slotted home Danny Murphy’s pass, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

But in an even first half, Simon Cox and James Morrison forced saves out of David Stockdale before Peter Odemwingie, linked with a move to Craven Cottage on deadline day, should have done better with a glorious chance from inside the penalty area.

Stockdale did brilliantly again to keep out a low effort from Marc-Antoine Fortune as the Baggies caused more problems in the second half.

But some renewed pressure from Fulham allowed Bryan Ruiz to play a great pass from just outside the box to find Dempsey, who fired past Foster from 12 yards out.

Tchoyi replaced Cox with 13 minutes remaining and immediately the beefy forward looked lively.

And he burst into space on the right-hand side of the penalty area to receive Morrison’s flick-on and fire past Stockdale.

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