Fulham earn first point under Jokanovic

Fulham: Slavisa Jokanovic.

Huddersfield 1 Fulham 1


Fulham picked up their first point under new head coach Slavisa Jokanovic in an open encounter.

The Whites were gifted the perfect start inside two minutes, Ross McCormack calmly finishing past keeper Jed Steer after a dreadful mistake by Jonathan Hogg.

But Huddersfield levelled through Mark Hudson and, despite plenty of attacking intent from both sides, neither team could find a winner in the remaining 70 minutes.

A first win after three consecutive losses under Jokanovic, and just a second victory in 14 games, looked likely when McCormack profited from Hogg’s careless pass to slot in his 17th goal of the season.

But Huddersfield responded impressively and, after Jamie Paterson’s strike hit the post, Hudson levelled when he stretched to divert an Emyr Huws free-kick past Andy Lonergan.

Both sides threatened to take the lead before the break but the Terriers created the best openings soon after the restart, with Lonergan making fine saves to keep out efforts from Nahki Wells and Joe Lolley.

Fulham, who had a strong McCormack penalty claim turned down in the first half, also had a couple of sights of goal, Alex Kacaniklic shooting in to the side netting and his replacement Moussa Dembele heading wide.

But Jokanovic’s men were forced to settle for a point, which leaves them just four points clear of the Championship relegation zone.

Fulham: Lonergan; Richards, Hutchinson, Burn, Garbutt; Cairney, O’Hara [Matilla 81], Christensen, Hyndman [Parker 45]; Kacaniklic [Dembele 61], McCormack.
Subs not used: Lewis, Stearman, Ream, Fredericks.