Fulham rely on late Tom Cairney goal to secure draw at Bristol City
Posted Saturday, March 07, 2020 by PA
Fulham failed to fully ramp up the pressure on second-placed Leeds after Tom Cairney’s late goal could only secure a 1-1 draw with fellow Championship promotion-contenders Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
City took a 70th-minute lead when Nahki Wells was on hand to nod home from close range after Pedro Pereira had headed across the face of goal into his path following a corner.
But Fulham more than played their part in an entertaining contest and levelled six minutes from time as Cairney made room just outside the box to net with a sweet left-footed drive.
The match was billed as City’s 125th anniversary match and Lee Johnson’s men battled for every ball to earn a share of the spoils, keeping them in play-off contention.
Fulham had the better of a high-tempo first half, but were often guilty of trying one pass too many at the end of numerous threatening moves.
Cairney shot wide with the first effort of the game after six minutes, but City responded well, with Wells having a header and a shot saved by Marek Rodak.
The hosts suffered a setback in the 23rd minute when centre-back Nathan Baker was forced off by an injury, with Filip Benkovic going on as his replacement.
Two decent Fulham chances fell the way of former City player Bobby Decordova-Reid, who sent a glancing header wide and then saw a 45th-minute shot well-saved by goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa.
Harry Arter fired narrowly wide as Fulham ended the half with a period of concerted pressure that had City defenders throwing bodies in the way of shots to protect their clean sheet.
Rodak had to make his first save of note at the start of the second half, changing direction to smother a deflected drive from Wells.
Decordova-Reid was presented with another great opportunity as a slick Fulham move ended with Maenpaa spreading himself to save a low shot.
It was end-to-end stuff. Benkovic headed wide for City from Callum O’Dowda’s cross following a short corner.
Aleksander Mitrovic had a shot deflected wide as Fulham continued to look menacing, but the home side also looked effective on the counter and a lung-bursting run by Andreas Weimann was halted at the expense of a corner.
Wells’ goal was still somewhat against the run of play. It provoked a strong Fulham response and Mitrovic was inches wide from a free-kick after being fouled by Benkovic.
Maenpaa came to City’s rescue again, reacting brilliantly to palm away Denis Odoi’s glancing near-post header.
Yet there was nothing the goalkeeper could do to stop Cairney’s perfectly-placed equaliser.
It was not Decordova-Reid’s day. Another close-range chance fell his way late on, but his shot was deflected up into the arms of Maenpaa.
Fulham appealed for a late penalty when Maenpaa went down to gather a loose ball and appeared to catch Cairney, but play was waved on.
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