LONDON, Sept 24: Fulham and Chelsea’s pretensions of being taken seriously as potential English Premiership forces this season were cruelly exposed Monday as they battled out a dour 0-0 draw.

The point at Loftus Road was enough to preserve Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the domestic season and also push them into third place in the table, but it was a forgettable night for coach Claudio Ranieri who was taking charge of Chelsea for the 100th time.

With Fulham looking for revenge for their FA Cup semifinal defeat at the hands of their London neighbours last season, it was always going to be a fast and frenetic affair.

The first chance of the match had fallen to Italian veteran Gianfranco Zola after 11 minutes when he shot over from 25 yards after a good knock-on by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

But Fulham refused to be overawed and Frenchman Steve Marlet was almost on target with a header that slid wide of the mark from Steed Malbranque’s 15th minute cross with defender Robert Huth struggling to cover.

Hasselbaink, who went into the game without a Premiership goal to his name this season, then saw a shot smothered by his Dutch international colleague Edwin Van der Sar in the Fulham goal before Japanese international Junichi Inamoto started to get a grip on the game.

First, he robbed Mario Melchiot and crossed for Sylvain Legwinski whose weak shot came off a defender’s legs before he almost scored his third Premiership goal of the season just three minutes before half-time.

The midfielder was first to a loose headed clearance from William Gallas on the edge of the area.

Cleverly, Inamoto brought the ball down with his right foot, switched it to his left and released a low shot which Carlo Cudicini did well to push away.

Boudewijn Zenden had earlier shot across goal for Chelsea while Barry Hayles should have done a lot better when, from close range, he could only scoop the ball over the top.

Inamoto’s evening’s work finished prematurely on the hour when Fulham coach Jean Tigana replaced him with Luis Boa Morte who was returning after a knee injury.

Boa Morte was straight into action releasing Marlet down the left but the French striker could only shoot wide under pressure from Gallas.

After 72 minutes Chelsea substitute Jesper Gronkjaer, who had replaced Zenden, almost celebrated his introduction to the action in style when he latched onto a long through ball.

However, his shot from an acute angle was well-stopped by Van der Sar who then denied Huth with seven minutes left as the match petered out.

Immediate ban

ZURICH: FIFA’s executive committee announced Tuesday that any player sent off would serve an immediate one-match suspension in the same competition with no recourse to appeal.

FIFA will be contacting each of their 204 members immediately and the new rule is expected to come into effect next month throughout the world, with no exceptions, possibly as soon as October 1.

The only way the player can escape an automatic ban is if the referee later admits a case of mistaken idently or concedes he has made the wrong decision.

The one-match ban will also have no impact on any subsequent ban imposed by a domestic association for the offence.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: “From now on any player sent off will face an automatic suspension for one match. Their are no exceptions unless the referee has made a mistake.

“We must protect the position of the referee and the fundamental laws of the game.”

FIFA have acted following a match between Grasshoppers and Basel in the Swiss league last month in which Grasshoppers’ Fabrice Borer was sent off.

The decision was subsequently annulled by the sole disciplinary commissioner of the Swiss league.—AFP/Reuters