Fulham settle for draw in Croatia

RNK Split 0 Fulham 0

RNK Split’s poor finishing spared Fulham from defeat in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round.

Fulham’s defence looked shaky, especially in the first half, and appeared to miss the presence of Philippe Senderos, who was named among the substitutes.

RNK’s Ante Erceg found himself through on goal after six minutes but succeeded only in side-footing the ball wide of the target.

And Martin Jol’s side survived another scare when Mark Schwarzer was able to make a comfortable catch after an unmarked Bojan Golubović failed to properly connect with Ante Vitaić’s free-kick.

Fulham took half an hour to register an effort on goal – and that was a tame long-range shot by Bobby Zamora, which was easily saved by goalkeeper Andrija Vukovic.

Jol’s men were better in the second half but still struggled to create clear-cut chances.

They endured another worrying moment when substitute Duje Cop turned away from Aaron Hughes and fired into the arms of Schwarzer.

And with six minutes left, Cop tricked Chris Baird on the edge of the penalty area but again shot straight at the Fulham keeper.