Peterborough United staged a remarkable fightback to claim a 3-3 draw against Premier League Fulham at London Road as Darren Ferguson's men came back from 3-0 down to claim an unlikely share of the spoils.
Peterborough United made a decent start to proceedings against Fulham at London Road with Shaun Batt going close to breaking the deadlock on nine minutes after Aaron Mclean found the winger in space with an intelligent lay-off.
Fulham opened the scoring on 22 minutes as Clint DEMPSEY played a neat one-two with Bobby Zamora and coolly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Joe Lewis and into the back of the net. The goal came as a result of Posh squandering possession in midfield, something that the management will not be happy with as they have stressed the importance of keeping the ball for long periods against top quality opposition.
Aaron Mclean slipped when well-placed after a diagonal pass from Russell Martin picked him out as Posh tried to get a foothold in the game. However, the Cottagers didn't waste any time in doubling their advantage as on 36 minutes Erik Nevland threaded a defence-splitting pass to Bobby ZAMORA, who coolly slotted the ball past Lewis and into the corner.
Nevland wasted an opportunity to make it 3-0 on 38 minutes after cutting inside from the left, but he fired wide of the target. Zamora was denied by a good tackle from Krystian Pearce as Fulham continued to dominate in the attacking third.
ZAMORA made it 3-0 just before the break and the Cottagers were having a stroll in the summer sunshine at London Road.
Half-time: Posh 0-3 Fulham
Lee Frecklington fired wide five minutes after the re-start after a neat lay-off from Mclean as Darren Ferguson's men tried to up the tempo. Substitute goalkeeper James McKeown made a superb stop to deny Nevland after a lucky richochet rebounded into his path and moments later Posh reduced the arrears as MCLEAN took advantage of a mistake by Zuberbuhler to slot the ball into the gaping net.
McKeown made another fine save to deny Nevland after Pearce appealed in vain for offside against the Norwegian. A glorious cross from Tom Williams was nearly converted by Batt at the back post, but Konchesky did well to deflect the effort for a corner kick.
George Boyd came on for Ben Wright on the hour mark while the Cottagers made two changes with Seol Ki-Hyeon among the players introduced.
Fulham came desperately close to adding a fourth as Nevland sent a curling effort past the flat-footed McKeown, but the post came to the rescue of Posh. Martin was replaced by Paul Coutts with Mclean taking the armband.
Frecklington was superbly denied by the Fulham goalkeeper after a neat build-up from the hosts before Boyd flashed a shot well wide of the target.
Seol Ki-Hyeon fired just wide of the upright on 78 minutes before Fulham introduced new signing Stephen Kelly from the substitutes bench. Posh set up a bit of a frantic finale by pulling a goal back just before the end as a corner from Green was stabbed goal-wards by Zakuani for BOYD to deflect the ball over the goal-line from close-range.
Posh were awarded a late penalty after BOYD was hacked down by substitute Smalley and the former Stevenage man stepped up and rifled home the penalty. Crook saw a tame effort saved in the dying embers of the game as Posh nearly got themselves into an unlikely winning position.
Final Score: Posh 3-3 Fulham
Posh: Lewis (sub McKeown 46min), Martin (sub Coutts 70min), Williams, Zakuani, Pearce, Lee, Batt, Frecklington (sub Crook 85min), Mclean, Green, Wright (sub Boyd 60min). Subs: Boyd, Diagouraga, Gaughran, Rowe.
Fulham: Stockdale (sub Zuberbuhler 46min), Konchesky, Pantsil, Hangeland (sub Smalling 81min), Nevland, Gera, Murphy (sub Harris 73min), Hughes (sub Kelly 81min), Etuhu (sub Ki-Hyeon 60min), Dempsey (sub Baird 60min), Zamora (sub Johnson 73min)
