Taha Hashim has filed his match report, so that’s my cue to go for a walk. Thanks for your company and correspondence. I’ll see you for the lunchtime game next Saturday – it’s Fulham again as they play host to Villa. For now, do join John Brewin for Clockwatch on the 3 o’clock games, or see what Taha made of this one.
Updated
And here’s Marco Silva. Was that a good point, he is asked. “Never is a good point!” he replies. “I really believe we played better first half than second half. Not with good chances, but more dominant on the pitch.
“Second half, we started with a good level but our dynamic was not good, they were stronger, the physicality of their players … It’s a point but it’s not a point that pleases us because we wanted to win. We have to keep fighting – 15 points to play for.”
Here’s Keith Andrews. “Very proud of the boys,” he says. “If anyone was going to win the game, it was probably us.” The facts back him up: Brentford ended up with four shots on target, to Fulham’s none. On expected goals, according to Sofascore, Brentford won 1.36-0.74.
I’ve been wondering if we’d hear from Andrew K, who poured scorn on this game before it began (12:28) and looks a bit of a visionary now. “Hope my email provoked some more emails for you Tim,” he says. It did. “I will be looking over my shoulder any time I venture into SW London from now on.” Ha. “Did the game prove me wrong though – your text at 86 mins suggests not?” Yes and no. It wasn’t vanilla, it was more engaging than many a 0-0, but the finishing was feeble, which was a surprise when the cast included Igor Thiago and Harry Wilson.
Updated
“Watching this match on a sunny afternoon,” says Kári Tulinius, “while drinking coffee and snacking on berries has been far from unpleasant, but I doubt I’d be able to recount a single noteworthy thing that happened tomorrow. Two good teams canceling each other out.” I take it you were looking at the berries when Leno made that save.
Bernd Leno says he wasn’t sure if that excellent save really was a save. “I thought it might have gone in the net, but then I saw my mates smiling at me.” Asked about the result, he says “it’s one more point on the road and at the end of the day it could make all the difference.” That is the truth, if not quite the whole truth.
The two goalies share a smiley hug, as well they may after keeping a clean sheet apiece. And both teams get another point, so Brentford stay seventh, though they are now level on points (48) with Chelsea, at least until 10pm tonight. Fulham stay 12th, and the extra point puts them level with Bournemouth on 45.
This is Brentford’s sixth draw in a row, which is apparently their longest such run since 1957. We’ve seen history being made.
FULL TIME! Brentford 0-0 Fulham
And that’s it! No goals, not much finesse, but plenty of entertainment. The moment of the match was that save by Leno from Ouattara.
90+6 min We’re into the last minute. And the ball is bobbing about in midfield.
90+4 min Free kick to Fulham. Wilson sends it in and the ball falls to Bobb, who can’t keep it down.
90+3 min Yes, Bernd Leno is Player of the Match, chosen by Ally McCoist. Until two minutes ago, it was going to be Joachim Andersen.
Updated
90+2 min Maybe that means Leno will be Player of the Match, ahead of his opposuite number, Kelleher. Brentford had another chance from the resulting corner as Collins put a header just wide.
90+1 min SAVE! Ouattara whips in a left-foot shot and Leno, bang in front of him, somehow gets a strong left paw to it.
Updated
90 min There will be six added minutes.
88 min Chance! Long throw from Kayode, crisp header from Lewis-Potter – and it’s blocked by his own team-mate, Thiago.
86 min It’s end-to-end stuiff now, in a modest way. Thiago leads the charge onto a through ball, but Leno gets there before him and calmly finds a team-mate. Fulham break and in comes a cross, which Kelleher claims. The Player of the Match award may have to be given, jointly, to the two keepers.
84 min It’s another fine delivery from Jensen, curling in to wards the top bin. Leno tips it over the bar and the resulting corner is … a non-event.
82 min Lewis-Potter, who’s been bright, wins a free kick on the left wing. The sun is back out.
80 min This corner is seen off by a solid punch from Leno. Marco Silva decides to play his last two cards, sending on Robinson for Sessegnon, as advertised, and Bobb for Cairney, which is an attacking move.
Keith Andrews has yet to make a single substitution. Saving them for added time, I presume.
79 min Brentford win their eighth corner of the match. Does anyone remember when they were good at set pieces?
77 min Thiago finds himself on the edge of the box, with time on his side – so much time that he can’t decide what to do and ends up trying a poked through ball, which is blocked. Fulham race up the other end and Wilson, timing his run well from the right wing, can only square the ball as he tries to find the far corner.
75 min Corner to Brentford. Traffic jam around Leno. Good ball in from Jensen, but the back-header from Collins goes wide – and so many of his team-mates were holding their opponents that it might have ben chalked off anyway.
73 min Another attack, from Fulham this time; another mediocre final ball.
70 min Kayode revs up for another long throw. Fulham get it clear, as comfortably as ever. The commentators go back to talking about the roads that go past the ground.
69 min Brentford come again, Yarmoliuk curls in a cross and Leno does well to grab it.
69 min Free kick to Brentford. Jensen sends in a good curling ball, and Collins mysteriously fails to connect.
67 min Fulham subs: Jimenez for Muniz, who was barely there, and King for Smith Rowe, who was busy. No Robinson yet, but two out of three ain’t bad.
66 min Chance! Shade heads in from the left and Damsgaard volleys just wide. Brentford are getting closer..
65 min A glimmer for Fulham as Sessegnon again ghosts into the box, but (again) he can’t do anything when he gets there. It may be time for Antonee Robinson. And Raul Jimenez. And Josh King.
64 min A goal kick is taken by Leno. The good news is that it’s not taken short. The bad news is that it goes straight to the other goalie, Kelleher.
61 min As the hour-glass flips over, we’re still waiting for a killer cross, or a half-decent corner.
59 min Brentford have been more joined-up since half-time. Now they have five men in the box .. but the cross doesn’t get near them. This game could do with a sub or two.
Updated
57 min And here’s the ninth, as Ouattara wins one for Brentford. It doesn’t clear the first defender… But Brentford come again, Lewis-Potter on one wing finds Ouattara on the other, and his shot is ON TARGET! It’s well struck, verging on rasping, but straight at Leno.
55 min That was the eighth corner of the match and the eighth to lead nowhere.
52 min Sessegnon wins a corner for Fulham with a cutback.
52 min A camera picks up Jordan Henderson, watching from the stand and wearing several shades of brown. Brentford could do with his drive.
50 min Fulham make their way into the box, patient as ever. Lukic, in the inside-left channel. can smell the glory but can’t keep his shot down.
48 min As Fulham break down the left, two Brentford players collide and one of them, Collins, ends up with a sore head, so Paul Tierney has to stop the game. Collins gets up wincing but able to continue.
47 min Brentford starts the half with a flurry of back passes. Kelleher is in such a tight corner that he has to try a Cruyff turn, which goes rather well.
46 min The sun has gone in, which at least makes Fulham, in their lime green, more visible.
No subs at half-time. But one stat: this is the ninth away game on the trot in which Fulham have failed to score in the first half.
“A draw at half-time is quite [something inaudible],” says Owen Hargreaves. It sounded like “level”, but that might have been a bit circular. Maybe he meant “fair”.
Updated
“I’ve never sent you an email,” says Warwick in Hong Kong, “so why not! Andrew K [12:28] couldn’t be more wrong – you can see the passion in both teams and both know the boost that European football could give them. More so, if anything, from Fulham as we know that 3 points at the bus stop is desperately needed if we are to have any chance of Europe. COYW!”
HALF-TIME! Brentford 0-0 Fulham
It’s been frustrating but far from dull. Fulham have been better with the ball, more patient, but Brentford have had their moments. Both sides need to work on their marksmanship: Brentford have had one shot on target out of five, and that’s one more than Fulham (out of six). All to play for!
Updated
45+2 min Chance! From the corner, to Lewis-Potter, who executes a textbook drag-back, only to lift his shot over the bar.
45+1 min The first of a meagre two added minutes. Thiago gets away on the counter and plays in Damsgaard, who wins a corner.
43 min Off goes Iwobi, to be replaced by Samuel Chukwueze. Marco Silva will be gutted but also glad that he packed the bench with attackers.
Updated
42 min A blow for Fulham: Iwobi has gone down off the ball and it looks like a hamstring injury, which could end his season. What a shame.
39 min Chance! Brentford win a free kick and then a corner. Jensen whips it in and Schade, at the near post, gets a good flick … but it’s blocked.
37 min Fulham are winning the battle in midfield, as they often did before Christmas, because Iwobi can drift in from the left to make a diamond. But Brentford are threatening with their long balls, pumped up towards the power of Thiago and the pace of Ouattara.
34 min “Not a lot in it,” says Ally McCoist on TNT. “Maybe Fulham a little more dangerous.”
33 min A nice move from Fulham brings a perpendicular pass to Sessegnon, ghosting into the box, but his shot ends up in Row Z.
Updated
31 min Thiago and Bassey have a grapple on Brentford’s right wing, which leads to Thiago tussling with Andersen and both of them lying on the floor. It doesn’t seem to be anything serious.
28 min Another fruitless corner, for Fulham. They do better in the aftermath as Iwobi tees up Andersen, whose shot is blocked.
28 min Another long run, this time by Kayode from his berth at right-back, all the way into the box. But again, nothing doing. Come on guys, you’re in danger of proving Andrew K right.
26 min Lukic, such a good operator, carries the ball about 50 yards and feeds Wilson, who wins a corner … that doesn’t yield an attempt on goal.
24 min Brentford advance down the left, only for Collins to pass the ball straight ou of play. Then they do better as a nice through ball finds Ouattara in the six-yard box, but he can’t get on the end of it and he’s offside anyway.
Updated
22 min Fulham live dangerously at the back as Leno is a little too cool with the short passes. When there’s a clear foul outside the box, Tierney plays another advantage, perhaps wrongly, and the attack fizzles out. But it does feel as if both teams have a goal in them.
18 min Brentford break, Thiago plays a neat lay-off and Ouattara is in acres in the No 10 zone. He’s got so much space that he doesn’t know what to do with it. Andersen has time to close him down and the shot, when it finally comes, is anodyne.
17 min Harry Wilson on manoeuvres again. He tries to go round the outside, checks back, gets a nice little chipped cross in – but it’s cleared.
16 min Thomas Frank is watching with wide eyes, as if he can’t quite believe he ever left.
14 min Half-chance for Thiago! In the box, inside-left-ish, he pulls off a smooth turn but, as so often these days, there’s a block.
13 min Brentford string some passes together for the first time today and win a throw-in, which is even better than a corner in their book. Kayode hurls it in, but again Fulham clear with ease.
Updated
10 min Half-chance! Fulham race away on the counter and Wilson, dancing in from the right, has a shot blocked. Jensen got away with a foul, and a possible yellow card, as Paul Tierney played the advantage.
9 min Chance! Another corner to Brentford. They take it short and a whipped cross finds the head of Igor Thiago, who can’t quite get enough of a flick to head it inside the post.
8 min Another dud long ball, from Fulham this time. In other news, Thomas Frank is here – the cameras spotted him chatting to a very senior citizen in the crowd.
5 min Lukic goes into the book! For manhandling Kevin Schade, who was turning neatly in the centre circle. Brentford go long again from the free kick, but it’s overhit.
Updated
5 min Fulham’s midfield, reinforced by Lukic, enjoy some possession, but then the ball trickles out for a goal kick.
3 min Fulham get into the box and Lukic is breifly unmarked, but a red-and-white shrt nips back to deny him.
2 min Fulham deal with the corner comfortaby. But they’ve already got one thing wrong: their kit. They’re wearing lime green, which should not be allowed on a sunny afternoon.
1 min Brentford kick off, lump the ball forward and Igor Thiago wins a corner!
“Given today’s match between two solid London sides,” says Peter O’Connor, “a poser. If there were an independent state of London, where would its football league figure among the Big Five European leagues?”
That is a good question – too good for me when the kick-off is moments away, but one for everybody to ponder.
As Hey Jude rings out around the ground, the emails keep on coming. “Ask and ye shall receive,” says Karl. “Really like Brentford as a club – a friend of mine is a season-ticket holder and it seems to do it all right, not just on the pitch... However, can I go on record to say that if they qualify for Europe next season, they will be flirting with relegation.
“You (maybe) heard it here first.”
And another one – from a dissenting voice. “Is this the most vanilla fixture in the football league?” asks Andrew K. “No one’s emailing you because no one cares. I can’t think of a fixture between two local rivals that has less fascination and interest for fans other than for the teams’ fans themselves.”
In the football league? That’s a bit harsh. I’m enjoying it already and it hasn’t even started.
An email! From the away end. “Turning up late season at the Gtech with the primary aim being to spoil Brentford’s European ambitions is giving serious déjà vu,” says Kit Clifford-Page, “but a win would put Fulham firmly back in the European conversation so there is everything to play for.
“Hopefully Tom Cairney’s first league start since the horrific home loss to West Ham is better calculated by Silva today and Harry ‘Beekeeper’ Wilson adds to his famous resume. Come on Fulham!”
All quiet on the west London front. If you’ve never sent us an email, now might be a good time.
Teams in full
A tale of two benches … Brentford’s is short of experience and stuffed with defenders, whereas Fulham’s has a full front six and flair to spare.
Brentford (4-2-3-1) Kelleher; Kayode, van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Yarmoliuk, Jensen; Ouattara, Damsgaard, Schade; Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Shield, Ajer, Pinnock, Stephenson, Nelson, Bentt, Donovan.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Lukic, Cairney; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Robinson, Berge, Reed, King, Bobb, Chukwueze, Jimenez.
Updated
Teams in brief: Fulham shake it up
Marco Silva makes four changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Anfield. Sasa Lukic is ready for his first start in three months, but he doesn’t resume his partnership with Sander Berge, who drops to the bench as Tom Cairney comes in. Lukic’s return frees Alex Iwobi to roam forward again. He’ll be cutting in from the left to join Emile Smith Rowe, who replaces Josh King as the 10. At left-back, Ryan Sessegnon is preferred to Antonee Robinson.
Teams in brief: no surprises for Brentford
After seeing Everton grab a last-gasp equaliser last weekend, Keith Andrews sees no reason to change a drawing team. It’s a strong XI but, with Jordan Henderson still ruled out by an unnamed injury, the bench looks a bit skimpy.
Updated
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to a feast of a weekend in the Premier League. There’s a lot more on the menu than a mere title decider. There’s the Merseyside derby, with Everton at home in their new stadium and, for once, in better shape than Liverpool. There’s Spurs, in spectacular disarray, taking on Brighton, the best team in the league over the past two months. There’s Chelsea, who haven’t scored against a top-flight club for five weeks, facing Man United, who seem to have mislaid all their centre-backs.
And first there’s Brentford v Fulham, which is more appetising than it may look. It’s not just a local derby – it’s a six-pointer that will have a say in who makes it into Europe. If Brentford win, they’ll go from seventh to sixth, above Chelsea, and, if only for a few hours, these quiet over-achievers will be lording it over west London. If Fulham win, they’ll jump from 12th to ninth and draw level on points with Brentford.
The biggest threat on either side is obviously Igor Thiago, the Haaland of the south. But he may have his work cut out because the past three games between these sides have all ended with a win for Fulham. In the reverse fixture, Brentford took an early lead, only to be battered by three goals in six minutes before half-time. One of them was scored by Harry Wilson, who eats Brentford defenders for breakfast. As my colleague Taha Hashim pointed out yesterday, Wilson has four goals in his past 118 minutes against these opponents.
But then that last meeting was seven months ago, before Brentford had got going under Keith Andrews. It left them 17th, while Fulham were eighth (just above Man City), Spurs were third and Liverpool were the runaway leaders. This has been a season in which everybody turned out to be fallible, even the team who have been top for months. And that makes almost every game interesting.
