Premier League: Fulham 0 Aston Villa 0

Fulham drew 0-0 with Aston Villa in what was a lively opening day fixture at Craven Cottage.

Martin Jol and Alex McLeish had to settle for a point apiece in their first Premier League game with their respective sides.

The first effort on goal came just after 10 minutes when Fulham’s John Arne Riise ran onto a through ball but he thundered his shot over the bar from just inside the penalty box.

Winger Damien Duff volleyed wide on his weaker foot as Fulham continued to be among the chances.

But it was the away side who should have opened the scoring after a defensive lapse from Philippe Senderos.

A long ball from inside his own half from Stephen Warnock was left by the Swiss defender, which allowed Emile Heskey to nip in behind him but his chip-cum-shot was easily blocked by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

The visitors had the ball in the back of the net after 22 minutes when Darren Bent ran onto Heskey’s through ball but the England striker made his run too early and was a yard or two offside.

Heskey was causing mischief in the home side’s box again as he headed over from a N’Zogbia cross.

The best move of the half came from a move straight out of the training ground after Senderos had brought down Heskey around 40 yards out.

Warnock sent a delightful cross-field free-kick to N’Zogbia who was waiting patiently on the touchline.

His cross was then headed over by James Collins – whose reaction suggested he should have done better.

Stiliyan Petrov had Schwarzer flying across his goal after he unleashed a drive that was always rising from around 25 yards out after Warnock teed him up from another well-worked free-kick.

Shay Given was called into action for the first time five minutes before the break, parrying Andrew Johnson’s shot after skilfully working his way into the box.

Bobby Zamora went close twice within the first five minutes of the second half with a shot and a header which brought the best out of Given on both occasions.

The home side’s strong start to the half continued and Villa were thankful for Richard Dunne’s last-ditch challenge on Johnson when the striker was bearing down on goal.

Substitute Marc Albrighton had the Villa fans on his feet when they thought he had scored but he rifled his shot into the side netting.

The game ebbed and flowed with neither side getting themselves across the finishing line and a draw was a fair result in the end.