Jose Fonte headed home a late equaliser to earn Southampton a point and deny Fulham a comeback victory at St. Mary's this afternoon.
Fonte had put the home side ahead inside the first 10 minutes before a Jos Hooiveld own goal and a deflected Kieran Richardson effort seemed to have given the Cottagers all three points.
Here, Sports Mole picks the bones out of an entertaining draw on the south coast.
Match statistics
Southampton
Shots: 13
On Target: 6
Possession: 57%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 13
Fulham
Shots: 14
On Target: 5
Possession: 43%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 5
Was the result fair?
Yes. You'd have to say a draw was a fair result. A classic 'game of two halves' as Southampton dominated the opening period but were outplayed after the interval. Fulham will feel hard done by having turned it around but, all in all, a fair outcome.
Southampton's performance
Excellent in the first half, average in the second. The Saints' pressing before the break worked really well as Fulham struggled to string multiple passes together. Unfortunately for Nigel Adkins, they couldn't keep up the work rate and were made to pay.
Fulham's performance
The visitors were dominated in the opening 45 but found their feet in the second period. Alex Kacaniklic was the brightest spark before he was taken off for Richardson, who went on to score the second. Hugo Rodallega didn't have a great time up top on his own and Martin Jol will look forward to the return of Mladen Petric and Dimitar Berbatov.
Referee's performance
Mark Clattenburg did very little wrong and won't be hitting the headlines tomorrow.
Sports Mole's man of the match
No-one really stood out today but we're going to give it to Saints skipper Adam Lallana. The playmaker looked confident on the ball and was the shining light when the hosts went forward.
Biggest gaffe
We're gonna have to give this to Hooiveld for poking John Arne Riise's shot, that was going wide, into the roof of the net. Some will see it as unlikely and it was, to an extent, but it's those sort of goals that won't help the Saints' bid for safety.
What next?
Southampton: There's now a two-week international break and Southampton travel to West Ham in search of their first away win on October 20.
Fulham: Martin Jol's men will hope to consolidate their bright start to the season when Villa visit Craven Cottage on the same day.
Pascal Lemesre
