FOOTBALL Live

Saturday December 13, 2008 Finished Britannia Stadium

0 - 0

Stoke City

Fulham

  1. Stoke and Fulham grind out draw

    Stoke and Fulham grind out draw

    Fulham were held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Stoke City
    • Fulham
    • 90+4 The final whistle goes, a good point for Stoke but Fulham should have made more of their possession. Goalless, another clean sheet for the Whites, who stay in the top half of the table.
    • 90+3 Fulham now counter attack and DEMPSEY ON THE EDGE OF THE BOX but just wide!
    • 90+2 Stoke almost snatch a late winner! Fuller on the left in acres of space plays it low across and it beats the keeper but Pericard cannot connect and Fulham clear!
    • 90+1 Incessant pressure from Fulham now, they are just camped in the Stoke half as they try to force a winner. Three minutes added time being played.
    • 90 Dempsey almost flicks it up for Johnson but hacked clear by Faye.
    • 89' A cross from the right finds Higginbotham free on the left and he can finish it but the flag is up.
    • 87 Bullard gets the ball off Dempsey and tries a lob from the edge of the D but it dips too late and lands on the roof of the net!
    • 85 Fuller is in on the right and he goes down under pressure from Hangeland and Murphy but goal kick! Fuller is furious with the assistant as he is convinced he was fouled.
    • 84 Johnson is in on the left and he has two defenders ahead of him, he tries a shot but cannot get it away and he tries to lay it up for a team-mate on the edge of the box but no-one's there and Stoke clear!
    • 81 Fuller nutmegs an unusually wooden Hangeland and he is in on the right but panics when he hits the area and smashes the ball well wide.
    • 80 Faye has a crack from the edge of the box but deflected over for a corner, which Schwarzer punches clear.
    • 77 Bullard gets it on the left after great play from Gera allows Davies time and space to pick him out. He doesn't have enough options though and waits for Konchesky on the overlap, who goes back to Bullard, who shoots wide. Fulham's problem is getting final balls and shots in, the rest of their play has been pretty much faultless.
    • 75 Chance for Fulham! Johnson almost gets a shot away but blocked for a corner. Konchesky to take on the left, short to Murphy but his near-post cross is straight down SorensenÂ’s throat.
    • 73 Fulham have realised that Stoke are working their way back into this and that the way to nullify it is to keep the ball, and keep it low. And as I type that Hangeland launches it long so easy for Sorensen.
    • 71 Throw in on the Stoke left, Higginbotham launches it into the area and neat control by Pericard who overheads it to Cresswell, it bounces awkwardly for Konchesky and Cresswell can shoot but he spoons it! Difficult chance to be fair. Bringing the third striker on has helped the long balls stick.
    • 70 Johnson chases a long Pantsil ball down the right but Sorensen comes just to the edge of his box to gather.
    • 68 STOKE SUB: Their third and final change, Pericard comes on for Pugh, Cresswell will now move wider on the left. Stoke going for the win!
    • 66 Hangeland comes forward down the left, a good ball inside to Dempsey who flicks it on for Davies on the edge of the box but the low drive is just wide with Sorensen beaten!
    • 64 Davies wins a corner on the left for Fulham. Bullard will swing it in and it drops right down Sorensen's throat and he half-punches it clear and Hangeland can shoot but knocks it back to Murphy, too short though and the shot is blocked. Fulham are asking all the questions now.
    • 63 Fulham counter at pace, wide to Bullard but too much purchase on Gera's ball. He stands it up well by the corner and puts it back to Konchesky in acres of space but his low-ish cross is cleared.
    • 62 One of StokeÂ’s basketball players knocks over Dempsey. Seriously, this team are monsters. Free-kick taken short, throw in now. Quickly taken to Gera, Johnson is in on the left and he drills the ball low FOR DEMPSEY WHO MUST SCORE BUT HE PUTS IT OVER FROM SIX YARDS! Ah, it was blocked by Sonko flying across, corner given. FulhamÂ’s best chance so far.
    • 61 STOKE SUB: DelapÂ’s work is done for the day, he comes off for Michael Tonge.
    • 60 Fulham with a bit more pressure, looking for an opening on the edge of the box but finding Stoke resilient.
    • 58 The heart-rate flutters briefly as Davies gets down the left but the cross is well over little AJ and with no Zamora or indeed anyone near the six-yard box it flies away on the right.
    • 57 This match is pretty rudimentary, I'm afraid to say. Faye smashes a shot from the edge of the D about 10 yards over. Then there are some long balls. Long, and high.
    • 55 The end result? A quiet word. At least one of them should have seen a card for that bit of girly theatrics.
    • 54 More nonsense as Fuller and Pantsil went tete-a-tete and Pantsil hurls himself to the floor claiming a head butt. Atwell comes over, really he should just talk to Fuller and book Pantsil for the simulation. They touched faces and, several seconds later, Pantsil went down like he had been shot. Embarrassing for him really.
    • 53 Oh this is silly, a clear foul on Bullard by Cresswell, into his heels from behind, but the ref ignores it and gives Stoke a throw. Bullard and Pantsil cannot quite believe it.
    • 52' Johnson goes late into Delap, retaliation for a challenge by Sonko on Dempsey that went unpunished. No card though.
    • 51' Fulham get their feet on the ball, knocking it about nicely, but Konchesky is tripped and the momentum goes. Playing it long into Dempsey and Johnson will not work as Stoke are monsters, all six foot plus.
    • 48 Bullard pings a half-volley on goal from the right after Pantsil and Johnson combine, but the shot is fairly weak and straight at Sorensen covering the near post.
    • 46 Second half underway!
    • - STAT ATTACK: Fulham have had a whopping 65 per cent of the first-half possession, while Stoke's direct, mathematical approach has seen them create three times as many chances as their elegant visitors. Style versus substance, one could say.
    • 45+6 That is half-time, not the greatest game so far but a few high points including one very strong penalty appeal for Fulham, one excellent chance for Stoke and some Delap-esque throws from Sonko, although not as flat as the Irishman's.
    • 45+4 Konchesky heads the ball out for a throw to Stoke on the right. Interestingly it is Sonko who goes over to take it and his throw is pretty tasty too, in at the near post and catching Schwarzer way off his line. He back-pedals to parry it out for a corner. Stoke seem to have cracked the long-throw code as Sonko is getting almost as much as Delap on these!
    • 45+2 Sickening clash of heads in the Fulham box between Hangeland and Sonko rising to meet a header. They're both flat on their backs but seem okay. Only four minutes off additional time signalled but it will be more.
    • 45+1 Gera sees yellow for a silly handball.
    • 45 Nice piece of play by Fulham, Gera on the right with a good touch and ball with the outside of his boot and Johnson flicks it on into the six-yard box but with no Zamora ahead of him it goes straight to Sorensen.
    • 43 Stoke look more confident after that spell of pressure and superb opportunity, peppering the Fulham goal with crosses and high balls.
    • 40 Cresswell is in on the left, he cuts inside and can have a pop but plays it to Fuller on the edge of the box, he skips around one man and has a clear chance to shoot but instead slips CRESSWELL IN AND HE IS ONE ON ONE BUT CURLS THE SHOT WIDE OF THE FAR CORNER! He should have scored.
    • 38 Sorensen has to punch away Bullard's hanging ball. Fulham get another jammy free-kick after Pantsil tumbles while chasing down Sonko. Bullard's delivery is blocked for a throw.
    • 37 Bizarre free-kick award to Fulham with Higginbotham adjudged to have fouled Dempsey when it looked more like the reverse. Around 35 yards out, to the right centre.
    • 36 Johnson is looking a touch isolated up front as Dempsey is playing very deep, more like an attacking midfielder than a support striker.
    • 34 Pantsil goes into the back of Cresswell when the former York and Sheffield Wednesday man wins a header.
    • 27 Pantsil is down injured but only briefly, he gets up and Fulham launch another patient, passing attack.
    • 25' Cresswell is all over Schwarzer as the corner comes in but he is nudged away by Hughes and Faye heads it on goal but blocked and hacked clear! Another ball is sent in, Pugh this time but bravely headed clear by Konchesky.
    • 23' Corner to Stoke on the left as they venture out of their half for once, Pugh swings it over but headed out on the right for a throw in which Sonko takes, oddly. Maybe Delap's arm injury is putting the kybosh on his Herculean delivery.
    • 21 Good spell of pressure for Fulham, with Bullard heavily involved in switching the play left to right then back left again, where Davies gets in space on the wing and stands up a high, hanging cross for Gera which Sonko heads out for a corner. Higginbotham is furious as, after the corner was cleared, he is accused of a handball in the box. And the replay shows a clear arm out and he made contact, definite penalty! Lucky escape for Stoke, another corner, which Sorensen claims.
    • 19 Ironic cheers from the Fulham fans as a Delap throw-in falls short as it slips out of his hands in the wet.
    • 17 Johnson goes down just inside the box after a what looks a clumsy challenge by Wilkinson. The ref waves him up though and Stoke pump it forward. Let's see that again... a clear dive by Johnson, appalling.
    • 15 Gera almost gets his head on the end of a long straight ball into the area but Wilkinson gets between him and Sorensen and it is back with the Stoke keeper.
    • 13 Fuller goes in late on Hangeland as the big Norwegian clears the ball, Hangeland is fine and just carries on but the ref books Fuller anyway.
    • 11 Sonko is forced to hack the ball behind for a corner after a mistake from Faye played Dempsey in.
    • 9 Fuller almost traps the ball as it bounces around in the Fulham box but the visitors get it clear.
    • 7 STOKE SUBSTITUTION: Sidibe off for Cresswell. That took up the best part of five minutes.
    • 5 No, his day is over, he tries to get up but after a few limps collapses on the ground again. Sidibe carried off with what looks like a jarred or twisted knee.
    • 4 Cresswell is warming up already as the medics treat Sidibe, who seems less pained now and could even get up.
    • 3' Oh no this doesn't look good for Sidibe. The Stoke striker landed awkwardly on his knee after jumping for a header, that looks like a twist at best. He is in agony and the stretcher is on. He'll do well to get up from this.
    • 2' Early half-chance for Johnson who almost gets on the end of a long ball but is denied by smart goalkeeping from Sorensen.
    • 1' Match underway at the Britannia!
    • - FULHAM TEAM NEWS: There is no Bobby Zamora for the Whites, he is injured so Clint Dempsey starts alongside Andy Johnson. Otherwise there are no surprises for the consistent Londoners.
    • - STOKE TEAM NEWS: Andy Wilkinson comes in for Andy Griffin at right-back, with the Stoke captain not even in the squad after suffering an injury. Salif Diao is out injured too. Otherwise there are no real surprises, with Rory Delap named in the starting line-up after passing a late fitness test on an arm injury. Not ideal for his long throws.
    • - Hello and welcome to Eurosport-Yahoo!'s LIVE coverage of Stoke City against Fulham in the Premier League, with comments and scoring from 15:00!

  • Team Stats

    Stoke City Stats Fulham
    32% Possession 67%
    7 Shots 10
    0 Shots on target 2
    2 Saves 0
    5 Corners 6
    2 Fouls 16
    2 Offsides 0
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    13 Tackles 8
    144 Accurate passes 403
    37 Bad passes 56

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Stoke City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      29 Thomas Sorensen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0
      33 Ibrahima Sonko 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 4
      3 Danny Higginbotham 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 12 11 1
      28 Andy Wilkinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 2
      14 Danny Pugh 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 11 8 1
      25 Abdoulaye Faye 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 13 1 0
      19 Amdy Faye 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 21 4 3
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 27 3 0
      24 Rory Delap 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1
      10 Ricardo Fuller 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 18 1 0
      11 Mamady Sidibe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      5 Leon Cort 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      23 Michael Tonge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0
      4 Seyi Olofinjana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Andrew Davies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Steve Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Vincent Pericard 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0
      9 Richard Cresswell 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 9 4 1
    • Fulham
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Mark Schwarzer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0
      18 Aaron Hughes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 1 0
      3 Paul Konchesky 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 47 12 0
      4 John Paintsil 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 51 0 1
      5 Brede Hangeland 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 29 2 2
      23 Clint Dempsey 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 29 6 1
      21 Jimmy Bullard 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 76 16 0
      13 Danny Murphy 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 57 4 1
      25 Simon Davies 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 27 10 2
      11 Zoltan Gera 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 44 1 1
      8 Andrew Johnson 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 3 0
      19 Pascal Zuberbühler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      33 Toni Kallio 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Julian Gray 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      26 Leon Andreasen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Erik Nevland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 Fredrik Stoor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      20 Dickson Etuhu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+3 Fulham now counter attack and DEMPSEY ON THE EDGE OF THE BOX but just wide!
    • 90+2 Stoke almost snatch a late winner! Fuller on the left in acres of space plays it low across and it beats the keeper but Pericard cannot connect and Fulham clear!
    • 87 Bullard gets the ball off Dempsey and tries a lob from the edge of the D but it dips too late and lands on the roof of the net!
    • 85 Fuller is in on the right and he goes down under pressure from Hangeland and Murphy but goal kick! Fuller is furious with the assistant as he is convinced he was fouled.
    • 84 Johnson is in on the left and he has two defenders ahead of him, he tries a shot but cannot get it away and he tries to lay it up for a team-mate on the edge of the box but no-one's there and Stoke clear!
    • 75 Chance for Fulham! Johnson almost gets a shot away but blocked for a corner. Konchesky to take on the left, short to Murphy but his near-post cross is straight down SorensenÂ’s throat.
    • 71 Throw in on the Stoke left, Higginbotham launches it into the area and neat control by Pericard who overheads it to Cresswell, it bounces awkwardly for Konchesky and Cresswell can shoot but he spoons it! Difficult chance to be fair. Bringing the third striker on has helped the long balls stick.
    • 66 Hangeland comes forward down the left, a good ball inside to Dempsey who flicks it on for Davies on the edge of the box but the low drive is just wide with Sorensen beaten!
    • 62 One of StokeÂ’s basketball players knocks over Dempsey. Seriously, this team are monsters. Free-kick taken short, throw in now. Quickly taken to Gera, Johnson is in on the left and he drills the ball low FOR DEMPSEY WHO MUST SCORE BUT HE PUTS IT OVER FROM SIX YARDS! Ah, it was blocked by Sonko flying across, corner given. FulhamÂ’s best chance so far.
    • 54 More nonsense as Fuller and Pantsil went tete-a-tete and Pantsil hurls himself to the floor claiming a head butt. Atwell comes over, really he should just talk to Fuller and book Pantsil for the simulation. They touched faces and, several seconds later, Pantsil went down like he had been shot. Embarrassing for him really.
    • 45+4 Konchesky heads the ball out for a throw to Stoke on the right. Interestingly it is Sonko who goes over to take it and his throw is pretty tasty too, in at the near post and catching Schwarzer way off his line. He back-pedals to parry it out for a corner. Stoke seem to have cracked the long-throw code as Sonko is getting almost as much as Delap on these!
    • 40 Cresswell is in on the left, he cuts inside and can have a pop but plays it to Fuller on the edge of the box, he skips around one man and has a clear chance to shoot but instead slips CRESSWELL IN AND HE IS ONE ON ONE BUT CURLS THE SHOT WIDE OF THE FAR CORNER! He should have scored.
    • 21 Good spell of pressure for Fulham, with Bullard heavily involved in switching the play left to right then back left again, where Davies gets in space on the wing and stands up a high, hanging cross for Gera which Sonko heads out for a corner. Higginbotham is furious as, after the corner was cleared, he is accused of a handball in the box. And the replay shows a clear arm out and he made contact, definite penalty! Lucky escape for Stoke, another corner, which Sorensen claims.
    • 17 Johnson goes down just inside the box after a what looks a clumsy challenge by Wilkinson. The ref waves him up though and Stoke pump it forward. Let's see that again... a clear dive by Johnson, appalling.
    • - Hello and welcome to Eurosport-Yahoo!'s LIVE coverage of Stoke City against Fulham in the Premier League, with comments and scoring from 15:00!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Stuart Attwell

  • Stoke City

    Manager: Tony Pulis

    Starting line-up

    • T. Sorensen
    • A. Wilkinson
    • A. Diagne-Faye
    • I. Sonko
    • D. Higginbotham
    • D. Pugh Substitution Out (68′)
    • A. Faye
    • G. Whelan
    • R. Delap Substitution Out (61′)
    • M. Sidibe Substitution Out (7′)
    • R. Fuller Yellow Card

    Subs

    • S. Simonsen
    • R. Cresswell Substitution In7′
    • V. Pericard Substitution In68′
    • M. Tonge Substitution In61′
    • A. Davies
    • S. Olofinjana
    • L. Cort

    Injured

    • D. Kitson
    • L. Lawrence
    • R. Shawcross

    Suspended

    None

  • Fulham

    Manager: Roy Hodgson

    Captain: Danny Murphy

    Starting line-up

    • M. Schwarzer
    • J. Paintsil
    • B. Hangeland
    • A. Hughes
    • P. Konchesky
    • Z. Gera Yellow Card
    • D. Murphy
    • J. Bullard
    • S. Davies
    • A. Johnson
    • C. Dempsey

    Subs

    • P. Zuberbuehler
    • J. Gray
    • T. Kallio
    • D. Etuhu
    • E. Nevland
    • L. Andreasen
    • F. Stoor

    Injured

    • D. Kamara
    • A. Taymourian

    Suspended

    None