Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez was delighted with a point at Stamford Bridge knowing that his side came close to a record breaking win.
Sanchez defended his striker Clint Dempsey, who was involved in a clash with John Terry, insisting that he was not a malicious player.
Sanchez said: “I thought two big lads came together and the referee gave the corner in our favour. When John stayed down I thought perhaps he had landed awkwardly or head-butted the ground.
“Clint is a strong player and so is John Terry. These things happen in football when two big men come together. I am sure it was not malicious. Clint is not that type of character.
Sanchez’s side almost stole all three points five minutes from the end when Paul Konchesky brought a superb save from Petr Cech and Chelsea escaped to stretch their unbeaten home league run to 67 games.
“It should have been 1-0 to us but Cech pulled off a great save from Paul. He is a top-class goalkeeper.
“I have mixed feelings really. Anybody would have settled for a point before coming to Chelsea but when you come that close to knocking over their record, you think ‘go on, let’s take it’. We had two one-on-ones with the keeper. It wasn’t to be though and we only got a point from it.”
“We kept a clean sheet for the first time in the Premier League and, as always, you sort one end out and the other one stops.
“We are a decent side. We haven’t had great fortune with some of the decisions given against us and haven’t defended well at times but we have given everyone a game.
“If we play like that for the rest of the season we’ll get points all over the place.”
Fulham’s Kasey Keller, who has taken over the goalkeeper’s jersey from Antti Niemi, also made several super saves to ensure the Cottagers earned a point.
Sanchez added: “Antti kept us in the Premier League in the five games I was in charge last season so he deserves a lot of credit otherwise we would have been playing in the Championship.
“He himself knows he has had injuries and has not been at his peak. There is competition now throughout the team and we can make changes that improve things.
“When Kasey has come on, he has done what he is paid to do and that is keep clean sheets. The back four were excellent in front of him today.”
