Newly-appointed Fulham boss Jean Tigana watched Fulham pinch a point with a late equaliser at Tranmere Rovers this afternoon – but will know he has a lot of work to do in order to satisfy Mohamed Al-Fayed’s dream of brining Premiership football to Craven Cottage.
The former Monaco head coach has agreed a long-term contract to take over in SW6 from July 1 and has entrusted the management of the club to caretaker duo Karl-Heinz Riedle and Roy Evans until that point. Riedle got off to the perfect start after the sacking of Paul Bracewell with a win over Crystal Palace last week, but the Whites were second best for much of a forgettable contest at Prenton Park and were fortunate to escape with a share of the spoils thanks to Andy Melville’s equaliser two minutes from time.
The hosts, who had a number of strong penalty shouts turned down, appeared set to climb into the top half of the table when they took the lead with eighteen minutes remaining. A flowing move saw Wayne Allison and Alan Mahon combine to release substitute Gary Jones. Striker David Kelly punished some poor marking to put Tranmere ahead but John Aldridge’s side couldn’t hold on to their advantage. The Rovers boss castigated his side for failing to build on their advantage and they were punished for failing to clear a corner when Welsh international Melville hammered home from twelve yards after being teed up by Lee Clark.
TRANMERE ROVERS (5-2-3): Murphy; Challinor, Roberts, Allen, Hazell, A. Morgan (Mahon 56); Henry, Parkinson; Kelly, Allison, S. Taylor (Jones 56). Subs (not used): Nixon, Yates, Black.
BOOKED: Challinor, Roberts.
GOAL: Kelly (72).
FULHAM (4-4-2): M. Taylor; Finnan (Goldbaek 76), Phelan, Melville, Coleman; W. Collins, Lewis, Hayward (Ball 76), Clark; Horsfield (Peschisolido 76), Hayles. Subs (not used): Hahnemann, Symons.
BOOKED: Coleman.
GOAL: Melville (88).
REFEREE: Alan Butler (Sutton-in-Ashfield),
ATTENDANCE: 7,132
