Source: Daily_Mail
Aston Villa 2 Fulham 2: Clint Dempsey salvages a point for stubborn Cottagers
An angry fan hurled abuse at Gerard Houllier as he walked towards the tunnel. There were more appropriate targets on a day laced with delicious farce. [LNB]'Somebody shouted at me but he pays for his ticket so he is allowed to shout,' said the Frenchman. 'Nice words,' he added sarcastically. [LNB]The manager held out his hands in response as if to ask the disgruntled supporter what precisely he was supposed to have done about Villa twice losing their lead. [LNB] Mobbed: Fulham rush to congratulate Clint Dempsey (left) following his equaliser[LNB]The answer, perhaps, was to put a respectful arm around Brad Friedel and politely suggest that it might bebetter to follow Manchester United legend Gary Neville into retirement before he hits 40. [LNB]The American goalkeeper, who has beenone of the Premier League's finest servants, fumbled Villa oldboy SteveSidwell's 52ndminute effort and allowed Andy Johnson to head home. [LNB] Handy Andy: Johnson celebrates his goal for Fulham[LNB]Kyle Walker then appeared to have wonthe game for the home side with a bobbling 30-yarder, but Friedel went missing when he should have been collecting Danny Murphy's 78th-minute corner and his fellow-American, Clint Dempsey, headed home. [LNB]Houllier said: 'It would be inappropriate to incriminate anyone.' It was hard not to 'incriminate' Fulham's John Pantsil, who took his tally of own-goals this season to three. [LNB] Run chase: Kyle Walker scores Villa's second goal [LNB]Villa v Fulham - teamsVilla (4-4-1-1): Friedel; Walker, Dunne, Collins, Clark; Downing, Makoun, Petrov (Albrighton 83min), Agbonlahor (Heskey 86); Young; Bent. Subs (not used): Marshall, Pires, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Cuellar. Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Pantsil (Salcido 62), Hughes, Hangeland, Baird; Duff (Davies 67), Murphy, Sidwell, Dempsey; Dembele, Johnson (Gudjohnsen 90). Subs (not used): Stockdale, Gera, Kakuta, Greening. Referee: L Mason (Lancashire)[LNB][LNB]He also put though his own net at Villa Park last term and after 13 minutes yesterday, he nodded beyond a baffled Mark Schwarzer under pressure from Gabriel Agbonlahor. [LNB]A merciful Mark Hughes substituted Pantsil in the 62nd minute and the player acknowledged a pocket of applauding fans near the dug-out. It wasn't clear which team those fans were following. [LNB]'He was obviously disappointed at half-time and I felt it was affecting him somewhat,' said the Fulham boss. 'It can affect your confidence so I made a decision to take him off.' [LNB]Can Hughes stop this otherwise competent defender from scoring repeatedly in the wrong net? 'You alwaysreview every little detail and hopefully we will stop it happening in the future,' said Hughes without a trace of irony. [LNB]Football is a serious business. Except that yesterday you had to laugh at times.[LNB] In-form striker Darren Bent is a snip at ?24m, claim Aston VillaFulham 1 Newcastle 0: Old boy Duff adds insult to injury for toothless ToonAll the latest Aston Villa news, features and opinionAll the latest Fulham news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Mark Hughes, Darren Bent, David Murphy, Stiliyan Petrov, Stewart Downing, Gabriel Agbonlahor Places: Birmingham, United Kingdom
