Davis puts Fulham forward a score

FT Fulham 1 Sochaux 0

Sean Davis showed Fulham’s shot-shy strikers how it was done with a thunderbolt injury-time strike to put the Cottagers within sight of a UEFA Cup place tonight.

The midfielder blasted into the roof of the net from 12 yards in the 92nd minute to earn victory against French side Sochaux in the Intertoto Cup semi-final, first leg at Loftus Road.

In the first half, Sylvain Legwinski smacked a header against the Sochaux crossbar and missed an open goal.

He was unlucky when he met Steed Malbranque’s corner and hit the woodwork - but then missed an absolute sitter from two yards just before the break.

Japanese World Cup ace Junichi Inamoto was left on the bench and made to wait until the second half for his Fulham debut.

But he looked a shadow of the player who took the Far East tournament by storm in a second half which barely registered on the entertainment scale.

However, that all changed in stoppage time and Fulham now just need to avoid conceding in Sochaux’s 20,000-capacity Stade Bonal next Wednesday to secure their progression to the Intertoto final - with a UEFA Cup place going to the winners.

Boss Jean Tigana named five Frenchmen in the starting line-up against his home country club as the Cottagers began their two-year groundshare at Queens Park Rangers’ stadium.

Fulham could have already played their last game at Craven Cottage after the club confirmed earlier today that problems with the proposed £70million ground revamp could mean permanently relocating to a new site.

Former QPR left-back Rufus Brevett was back on familiar territory in the Fulham XI after a groin injury - but right-back Steve Finnan’s return from his World Cup heroics with the Republic of Ireland has been delayed by an ankle problem.

Fulham started well on a surface made slick by heavy afternoon rain. In the fourth minute, Malbranque made a trademark dart in from the left flank and his shot was blocked.

And after considerable home pressure, Malbranque - the Londoners’ best player last term - provided the cross which almost set up the opener just before the 20 minute mark.

He whipped over a left-wing corner and Legwinski rose highest to glance a fine header against the face of the visitors’ crossbar.

But Sochaux, who finished eighth in Le Championnat last season - and actually beat Fulham 2-0 in a friendly in November, showed they had more defensive resolve than the Cottagers’ previous Intertoto opponents and battled back into contention.

Fabien Boudarene flashed a powerful 22-yard drive a yard wide of Edwin van der Sar’s goal after 27 minutes.

And the Dutch keeper needed to flick out his right leg to touch wide an angled shot by Sochaux’s extravagantly-named Francileudo dos Santos Silva.

Play then swung to the other end and Legwinski came up with an early candidate for miss of the season.

Brevett’s deflected cross from the left skidded across an open goal - but Legwinski’s studs somehow deflected the ball wide from two yards.

Malbranque’s deflected shot was well-gathered by Teddy Richert on the stroke of half-time.

The player the 4,700 Fulham fans wanted to see - Inamoto - came on for Legwinski at the start of the second half.

And the Japanese midfielder started the move which culminated in Luis Boa Morte slicing woefully wide from 10 yards after 50 minutes.

But the game then deteriorated into a turgid period, with Sochaux relying on rare counter-attacks and their bolstered defence frustrating the traditionally shot-shy Fulham strikeforce.

During one Sochaux break-out, Brevett did well to race back and tuck the ball behind at the far post.

And that was as exciting as it got until late goal drama, two minutes into injury time.

Fulham midfielder Davis latched onto a half-cleared corner and thundered an angled drive into the roof of the net from 12 yards to clinch a last-gasp 1-0 victory.