Davis gives Fulham the edge with late strike

Fulham 1, Sochaux 0,

The midfielder blasted home in the 92nd minute to earn a 1-0 Intertoto Cup first leg victory against French side Sochaux.

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. 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 the game got until the late goal drama, two minutes into injury time.

Fulham midfielder Sean 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.

Fulham started well on a surface made slick by heavy afternoon rain. In the fourth minute, Steed 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 Sylvain Legwinski rose highest to glance a fine header against the face of the visitors’ crossbar.

Sochaux, who finished eighth in Le Championnat last season, showed they had much more defensive resolve than Fulham’s 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 goalkeeper needed to flick out his right leg to touch wide an angled shot by Sochaux’s Francileudo dos Santos Silva.

FULHAM: Van der Sar, Ouaddou, Brevett, Melville, Goma, Legwinski, Marlet, Malbranque, Saha, Davis, Boa Morte.

SOCHAUX: Richert, Flachez, Saveljic, Lonfat, Boudarene, Frau, dos santos silver, Pedretti, Rashke, Monsoreau, Mathieu.