Fulham staged another stalemate as their shyness in front of goal continued with a 0-0 draw against Sunderland.
Dire draw at the Cottage once more as Sunderland hold out
Fulham staged yet another stalemate at Craven Cottage as their shyness in front of goal continued with a 0-0 draw against Sunderland.
It was the Cottagers' 10th draw of the Premier League campaign and the game produced few chances, particularly in a dire first half.
Andrew Johnson's introduction for the second half gave the hosts a greater threat and it was he who came closest to breaking the deadlock.
Dickson Etuhu had a header cleared off the line while substitute Boudewijn Zenden dragged narrowly wide for the Black Cats.
The last five meetings between these two sides have now produced just two goals, therefore a classic was never likely to be on the cards.
Hovering above the relegation zone, Fulham looked short on confidence and desperately need a win to kick-start their climb up the table.
The match started at a brisk pace with a swinging arm from Lee Cattermole on John Pantsil provoking a furious response from home fans.
Dempsey tested Simon Mignolet with a looping volley before defender Anton Ferdinand limped off in the 10th minute, replaced by Ahmed Elmohamady.
Nedum Onuoha headed a corner over from an awkward angle but it was only a half chance.
Fulham were suffering from conceding possession far too easily in the final third, with the hosts clearly struggling to hold up play without the injured Bobby Zamora.
They finally burst into life in the 27th minute when Zoltan Gera sent Diomansy Kamara into space only for the Senegal striker's final ball to be cleared by the impressive John Mensah.
Scramble
Brede Hangeland produced a timely block on a cross, but the free ball sparked a penalty area scramble that was eventually cleared to safety.
The half was short on quality but Sunderland attacked with more conviction, Phil Bardsley setting up a half chance for Bent who failed to keep his header on target after leaping high to outjump Hangeland.
Pantsil then got his body in the way to block an attempt by Bent, who on this occasion was teed up by Henderson.
Johnson replaced Kamara for the second half, an admission by manager Mark Hughes that Fulham desperately needed some inspiration.
The Cottagers' next raid came not through Johnson but Dempsey, whose chip towards the top-right corner was plucked from the air by Mignolet.
Fulham were attacking the second half with far greater vigour and they nearly crept ahead in the 56th minute, but Dempsey just failed to reach Carlos Salcido's brilliant cross.
It then took a cleared header from Bardsley, the last line of defence, to prevent the home side from taking the lead through Etuhu's goalbound effort.
All of Fulham's best moments were being provided by Dempsey, who saw another delicate shot stopped by the arm of Onuoha just outside the area.
Excellent
Mignolet produced an excellent save after Johnson had pulled the trigger from point-blank range, but the Cottagers were almost hit on the break.
Sunderland rushed upfield with only Pantsil defending against four players but Bent's crucial ball to Asamoah Gyan was terribly misplaced.
Johnson teed up Dempsey but this time Cattermole made the crucial block.
Kieran Richardson then tugged on Dempsey's shirt to concede a free-kick on the edge of the area, but Gera's delivery was tame.
Zenden sent a low drive narrowly wide of the right post from 30 yards and was then felled by a clearance from Pantsil.
The Dutchman fell awkwardly and required attention and oxygen to recover his bearings, only to be fully involved in Sunderland's attacking threat late on.
Bent was flagged offside after being slipped through one on one with Mark Schwarzer, steering wide in any case which summed up a dull match.
| Fulham |
Team Statistics |
Sunderland |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 9 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 8 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 4 |
Corners |
3 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 71.7 |
Passing Success |
64 |
| 15 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 80 |
Tackles Success |
81.8 |
| 54.4 |
Possession |
45.6 |
| 50.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
49.1 |
|
