Premier League: Fulham 1 Southampton 1

A late penalty from Rickie Lambert rescued a point for Southampton in a 1-1 draw against relegation rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Southampton striker Lambert kept his cool to slam high into the net five minutes from time after referee Phil Dowd pointed to the spot for a handball from Fulham defender Chris Baird.

Fulham thought they were set to take all three points courtesy of Dimitar Berbatov’s eighth-minute strike, but Martin Jol’s side have now recorded just one victory in their last 11 matches and are increasingly being dragged towards the bottom three.

Southampton remain 17th in the table and now face a daunting run of games, with four of their next five fixtures against sides in the top six.

Jol made three changes to the Fulham side that lost 4-0 at Liverpool last time out, bringing Philippe Senderos, Steve Sidwell and Hugo Rodallega into the starting line-up.

Southampton made just one change to the starting XI that was beaten by Sunderland as Steven David replaced Emmanuel Mayuka.

Jol would have hammered into his players the importance of the festive period as Fulham look to escape from a potential relegation fight, and the hosts started brightly.

They could have taken the lead just three minutes in when, after good work from Hugo Rodallega, Steve Sidwell picked up the ball and fired a powerful effort just wide from the edge of the penalty area.

In the eighth minute, Fulham did score the goal that calmed nerves around Craven Cottage. Sascha Riether whipped in a low cross from the right that Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis could only palm into the path of Berbatov. The Bulgarian made no mistake in turning the ball into a virtually empty net for his first goal in seven appearances.

He removed his shirt to unveil a cheeky message – ‘keep calm and pass me the ball’, referee Dowd duly booking him.

Southampton settled down and showed fighting spirit without particularly threatening in the final third.

Jack Cork forced a save from Mark Schwarzer with a shot from 25 yards late in the first half, before Nigel Adkins’ team started to control large portions of the game after the break.

Jason Puncheon skimmed an attempt wide of the post two minutes after the restart but the Saints struggled to break down Fulham’s stubborn defence.

Twelve minutes from time, the visitors came close to an equaliser but Lambert volleyed a yard over the bar from Luke Shaw’s cross.

Then, Baird handled as he attempted to clear a corner. Lambert stepped up to slam his spot-kick into the top corner of the net.

All of a sudden, the game opened up. Gaston Ramirez forced Schwarzer into action with a dipping strike from 20 yards before Sidwell whipped a curling shot just off target.

But neither side proved capable of forcing a winner, leaving both teams still in danger at the wrong end of the standings.