Fulham are doing well in the first 20-25 minutes getting shots on target or at least close to target.
Van der Sar saves Robbens shot. 1st shot on target for Chelsea. 25th minutes Bocanegra prevented a Robben cross. Chelsea's CK cleared by McBride.
Gentleman Jim praising the work rate of both Bocanegra and Macca, particularly in Fulham's attack. Still scoreless, close to a half-hour gone at Craven Cottage.
Carvahlo concedes a CK for Fulham. But the CK is wasted. McBrides is winning the headers. Smertin goes for goal but it's save by Van der Sar. 30th Min.
As much as I love hearing the praise for Brian, he'd really become a hero with a goal here....c'mon MacDaddy, get it done....
McBride under pressure when in the box, and his shot is deflected and made to be easy work for Cudicini. Good work between Cole and McBride, on a better-than-decent wall pass, but Legwinski can't handle Macca's pass to him. 0-0, 35th minute...
Twice now Gentleman Jim has confused Dioup and Bocanegra. They don't really strike me as "similar looking"
Volz's cross to Cole is missed. Very close! 1 minute of added time. Smertin's counterattack shot blocked by Bocanegra for a CK. But there's no CK as the ref blows his whistle for halftime. 0-0.
"Slightly disgusted", to put it lightly. My morning coffee nearly came out of my nose when I heard that comment! Jim's one of a kind, indeed... Halftime, and it's scoreless.
We kept them scoreless thats a start. It may come out like wow you kept them scoreless woo hoo but, for this team Keeping Scum scoreless in a half gives the team confidence now they need to build of that and get a goal.
Watching Fulham on television: On more than one occasion I have been awed at how well Bocanegra (4) was controlling the ball only to realize that I was, in fact, watching Malbranque (3). Or is it the other way around?
Good game so far for McBride and Bocanegra. I just wish they connect on the final third of their passes or crosses, especially Cole. They just need to stay alert on Robben and Duff counterattacking on the wings. So far Volz and Boca seem to containing them well. Pembridge is also being active on the attack with his crosses to McBride .
FYI, Chelsea isn't really playing a 4-5-1 - we're using the same formation we usually do, a modified 4-3-3, with the two wide attacking players slightly behind the "lone striker". We played the same way a week ago when we beat Fulham, only with Gudjonson up top instead of Drogba, who's coming off an injury. According to the stats, Chelsea have had 67% of the possession. That's a bad sign considering how defensive our midfield is.