Jari Litmanen Plays!!

Litmanen Finn-ally (sorry) played in the black and white of Fulham tonight in the Reserves lose to Tottenham.

The 37 year old Finn marked his first appearance with a goal from a first half penalty.

The team yet again featured senior squad players with the like of Phillip Chrisintval, Moriz Volz, Erik Nevland, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Simon Elliot and Litmanen all starting.

Fulham started well and had the better 45 minutes with Litmanen forcing Spurs keeper Tommy Forecast into a fine save. Simon Elliot also came close with a fierce shot going just wide of the goal.

With only five minutes of the first half remaining, Nevland was brought down by Ricardo Rocha. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Litmanen stepped up to calmly convert the penalty.

Three substitutions in the second half saw Christinval, Nevland and Litmanen leave with twenty minutes left. Ten minutes later Spurs were even after Danny Rose capitalised on some poor defending; scoring with an overhead kick.

Two quick goals in the dieing minutes of the game gave Spurs a flattering win.

Fulham line up:
Brooke-Meade; Cumber, Anderson, Leijer, Christanval (Thompson 69); Milsom, Volz, Elliott, Seol; Nevland (Hall 63), Litmanen (Smith 63)

Billy McKinlay said after the game:

'Again we lost three late goals which has been our Achilles heel for the past number of games,' McKinlay continued. 'We were a little bit wasteful in possession in the second half and started to give the ball away a bit too cheaply. That invited Spurs on to us and gave them a bit of momentum and impetus.

'It was a disappointing night but not in terms of getting some senior players back. Christanval came back after a long layoff and Litmanen got a good hour under his belt. And Erik Nevland, as usual, worked his socks off."