Brentford and Fulham earned a point each in Saturday afternoon's goalless draw in the Premier League at the Brentford Community Stadium.
It was a match between two sides that cannot be relegated and will not be finishing in Europe, so it was not too shocking to see a relatively low tempo for long stages.
This is not a fixture that will be filed under the Premier League classics, but Fulham, who had 15 shots in total, did shade the contest and will feel that they should have collected all three points in the capital.
The result has seen Fulham move above Brighton & Hove Albion into 12th position in the table on 44 points, four points off 10th-placed Bournemouth, while Brentford stay 16th, one point behind 15th-placed Everton.
Not even two minutes were on the clock when the first chance arrived, with Fulham's Sasa Lukic pouncing on a loose ball inside the penalty box, but his effort took a deflection off Nathan Collins and just missed the target.
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Fulham shaded the contest in West London
Alex Iwobi then struck one just over the crossbar, before Bryan Mbeumo smashed one again the woodwork down the other end, with both teams having their moments in a lively start to the contest.
Iwobi was Fulham's best player in the first period, with the Nigerian again testing Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken towards the end of the opening half of action with an effort from distance.
Brentford had a chance to make the breakthrough late in the first period, with Christian Norgaard delivering a dangerous cross into the Fulham box, but there were no takers.
Fulham can still finish in the top half of the table, while Brentford will certainly be bidding to improve on 16th, but a tough campaign has seen them lose 18 times.
The points are shared.
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) May 4, 2024
🐝 0-0 🖤 #BREFUL pic.twitter.com/tHaVRN2Mp8
Fulham still pushing for top-half spot
Andreas Pereira came close to registering for the visitors early in the second period, but he just missed the target from distance, before Timothy Castagne headed over the crossbar soon after.
Raul Jimenez also came close for Fulham in the latter stages, firing over the target from close range after smart work from Adama Traore.
Marco Silva's side were pushing for a winner, with Traore forcing a smart save from Flekken; there was then a late VAR check for a Brentford penalty, with Ivan Toney going down inside a box under a challenge from Jimenez, but no spot kick was awarded.
Ultimately the points were shared at the Brentford Community Stadium, and both of these sides will already be looking ahead to the 2024-25 campaign.
Matt Law
