Martin hits Ful speed after spot of bother
CHRIS MARTIN made amends for a first-half penalty miss to rescue a point for Fulham in the west London derby.
Alex Smithies continued his remarkable record by saving Martin’s sixth-minute spot-kick, after Sone Aluko had been bundled over in the area by Jake Bidwell.
The QPR keeper has now saved six out of the 10 penalties he has faced for the Hoops.
Ryan Manning’s first goal for Rangers had put them ahead after the young midfielder made the most of an awful mistake by Kevin McDonald.
Under pressure from Massimo Luongo near the halfway line, McDonald panicked and his aimless pass fell straight to Manning and his shot squirmed through the legs of keeper David Button.
Rangers had made the brighter start to the game, with Jamie Mackie firing high and wide from an awkward angle after collecting a pass from Idrissa Sylla.
Fulham threatened as well, with Tom Cairney going close with a powerful strike.
But Rangers opened the scoring thanks to McDonald’s gift and Nedum Onuoha missed a great chance to put them further ahead when he headed over.
They were made to pay when Cairney’s shot was turned in by Martin.
Tempers boiled over in the final minutes with players and members of both management teams involved.
QPR boss Ian Holloway said: “Luckily my goalkeeper saved the penalty but it’s still hard to believe it was given.
“I could clearly see it wasn’t a penalty. After that, things happened that you would expect to be controlled by the officials.
“I thought the referee lost control of the situation. There was a bit of a ruck and for once I wasn’t involved.
“It was a mad couple of minutes.”
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic said: “At this moment we are not clinical enough.
“This is not news, it is a characteristic of my team.
“But I am really proud of my players. They push really hard and we are working well.”
Cherries boss Eddie Howe was lucky that the DR Congo striker decided not to go to this month’s African Nations Cup in Gabon, as his 82nd-minute strike secured a draw.
Just seven minutes after coming off the bench, Afobe’s finish following a sweet turn denied Watford their first Premier League win in seven games.
Troy Deeney’s fifth goal of the season was the 11th Bournemouth had conceded in four games.
And for all their neat approach play, Bournemouth’s creaking defence is an increasing concern for boss Howe.
But he refused to dwell on his side’s defensive blunders and instead hailed their fighting spirit.
He said: “Overall I thought we were unfortunate. We knew set plays would be a strength of theirs and the manner of the two we conceded was disappointing.
“But we have to look to the positives and the character we showed.
“Jack Wilshere did very well today. He improves with every game.
“His technical play, his dribbling and his ability to take the ball in high areas is a real plus.”
It began so promisingly for the home side, with Wilshere pulling the strings.
They almost went ahead when the on-loan Arsenal man’s chip into the box was met by a looping header from Ryan Fraser but Heurelho Gomes tipped the effort over.
Wilshere unlocked the Watford defence again but Callum Wilson lost control in the area and the playmaker then tested Gomes with a vicious 25-yard drive.
Careless marking at a corner, though, allowed Watford to take the lead against the run of play.
Steve Cook could only flick Jose Holebas’ corner on to the back post and Miguel Britos headed back for Christian Kabasele to nod in.
Bournemouth drew level through a moment of individual brilliance by Adam Smith three minutes into the second half. The right-back took a short throw, received the ball back and after nutmegging Abdoulaye Doucoure he sprinted into the box, where Joshua King was waiting to tap in his cross.
But once again the home side were betrayed by their defending at a corner.
Tom Cleverley’s cross was met by Deeney’s thumping header after the forward rose above Smith at the near post.
Watford are not without their own problems at the back, though, and with eight minutes to play and Kabasele on the ground injured, Afobe shrugged off Younes Kaboul equaliser.
Watford boss Walter Mazzarri was unhappy that Kabasele was down with cramp in the build-up to Afobe’s goal.
He said: “Kabasele is a young player, he didn’t think about it, he had cramp and he didn’t tell us before.
“We deserved to win. We made two mistakes which let them score the goal and we could have scored another ourselves.” BOURNEMOUTH: WATFORD: to fire home Watford’s next game: the