Middlesbrough 1 Fulham 1
A game of mediocrity sprang into life in the final eight minutes last night. When Fulham striker Brian McBride had broken the tedious deadlock with a driven, low finish, from a cross by Tomasz Radzinski in the 82nd minute, Fulham seemed set to jump two places into 14th place and all but guarantee Chris Coleman's team another season in the Premiership.
But then referee Rob Styles, who will conduct the FA Cup final, consulted his linesman when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was felled by Edwin van der Sar six minutes later. Van der Sar did catch Hasselbaink but it was outside the area. Up stepped a third Dutchman, Boudewijn Zenden, to convert the penalty.
Middlesbrough have ploughed a trough since Christmas, winning two of their last 12 Premiership matches; Fulham had won one of their last eight.
The home side welcomed back Boudewijn Zenden in midfield and Ugo Ehiogu at the back; Fulham arrived minus Andy Cole and created the sort of opening he might have been expected to score from in the eighth minute. When Mark Pembridge curled in a free-kick Brian McBride rose above the Middlesbrough defence to put a header inches wide of Brad Jones's right post.
Shortly after that Hasselbaink flung himself to the turf in the visitors' penalty area under the flimsiest of challenges from Liam Rosenior and the Dutchman was lucky not to be booked.
Boro lacked the fluency to impose the sort of pressure their supporters wanted and there was ironic cheers when they strung together a clutch of passes five minutes before the interval. It ended with Szilard Nemeth declining the opportunity to shoot.
Previously there had been a smattering of boos when McBride placed another header wide in the 35th minute. Free six yards out, McBride should have done better. Two minutes prior to that Fulham had benefited from Boro's defensive inefficiency as Collins John was presented with a shot from 12 yards by Colin Cooper's clearance. John's shot flew high and wide.
When the second half began Fulham continued to dominate through their superior passing and movement, personified by Luis Boa Morte, who was being watched in the stands by the Newcastle manager Graeme Souness.
On 55 minutes Boa Morte's cute left-foot free-kick from 20 yards clipped the top of Jones's crossbar. That, finally, provoked an attacking response from Middlesbrough. Nemeth fluffed a decent chance when released by Zenden and George Boateng then smacked wide a ricochet from a Zenden corner just past the hour.
Zenden was doing his best to stimulate his team-mates but frustration among the crowd was fuelling anxiety on the pitch. When Boro did manage to construct a forward foray they usually found Zat Knight on the end of it.
MIDDLESBROUGH:Jones, Cooper (Kennedy 86 mins), Southgate, Ehiogu, Queudrue, Parlour, Boateng, Zenden, Downing, Hasselbaink, Nemeth. Subs not used: Doriva, Davies, Wheater, Knight. Booked: Southgate. Goal: Zenden 90 pen.
FULHAM:Van der Sar, Rosenior, Knight, Goma, Volz, Pembridge, Radzinski, Clark, Boa Morte, John (Malbranque 82 mins), McBride. Subs not used: Bocanegra, Crossley, Jensen, Rehman. Goal: McBride 82.
Referee:R Styles (Hampshire).