RNK Split 0-0 Fulham: Martin Jol’s men earn valuable clean sheet in Europa League qualifier first leg

During a game devoid of clear cut chances, Martin Jol’s team played very much on the back foot, but will be pleased to have kept a clean sheet.

The London outfit endured a frustrating first half in Split, as the Croatians seemed eager to keep the match tight during the opening exchanges.

Jol, clearly using his side’s exploits in the Europa League qualifiers as their pre-season, fielded a strong side, with starlet Matthew Briggs keeping his place in the side following his impressive display against Crusaders, while John Arne Riise made his debut for the club.

The opening 45 was littered with indecisiveness from both sides, as the Premier League failed to muster any real opportunities to test goalkeeper Andrija Vukovic.

The visitors thought they’d carved themselves an opening at the midpoint of the half, as Bobby Zamora latched onto Danny Murphy’s through-ball before bearing down on goal, only to ruled offside to the dismay of the Fulham bench.

As the first half drew to a close, Split began to drift forward in numbers. A neat short corner on the left-hand-side created space for Ante Vitaic, but his delivery into the penalty area was easily dealt with by Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer.

Johnson created an early chance in the second half, getting to the byline and squaring for Briggs who looked for all the world like he had scored, but for a last ditch challenge from Martic.

But that was it from the away side, as they surrendered possession to the Croatians and sat back defensively to protect a clean sheet. RNK, though, were restricted for space and found clear cut opportunities hard to come by.

The home side made a flurry of substitutions as the game wore on and for the last 20 minutes had four forwards on the pitch. Duje Cop, sent on for Bojan Golubovic, spun expertly in the area but sent a left-footed shot straight at Mark Schwarzer.

Steve Sidwell was brought on for Dickson Etuhu, while youngster Pajtim Kasami replaced Bobby Zamora, but neither had a telling impact in the final few minutes.

Ante Vitaic sent in a free-kick that failed to test Schwarzer before Cop again showed neat foot work on the edge of the area but shot straight at the Fulham keeper, as the home side piled on the pressure in the final few minutes.

But it wasn’t to be as the final whistle was blown and a frustrated RNK had to make do with a stalemate.