Before the very last minute of the match, when everything became about a worrying-looking head injury to Junior Hoillet, the game between Fulham and Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage had been dominated by two sumptuous strikes. Ruben Rochina had given Rovers their first lead of the 2011/12 season with an absolutely gorgeous shot from outside the area, clipping the underside of Mark Schwarzer's crossbar before bouncing into the back of the net, and then Bobby Zamora sent in a classy equaliser of his own after escaping the attentions of left back Gael Givet and making space in the penalty area from a tight angle.
Fulham Vs. Blackburn Rovers: Junior Hoillet Injury Mars Exciting 1-1 Draw
Fulham dominated the second half as they looked for a way through the Blackburn defence. Paul Robinson and the centre backs needed to stand firm before a barrage of crosses, and Clint Dempsey came very close to winning the game for the hosts in injury time after a backheel from Moussa Dembele saw the American in space at the top of the box.
Fulham pouring forwards, of course, meant space at the back, and Blackburn did their best to exploit it. Unfortunately, one of those attempts saw both Schwarzer and Hoillet attacking a 50/50 ball, the two players coming together with a sickening clash of heads. Hoillet had the worst of the collision, crumpling to the ground with blood streaming from a cut to the head, and stayed prone for several minutes before Blackburn’s medical staff could finally stretcher him off. It was a really unfortunate, unintentional injury that put something of a damper on what had been an interesting, exciting game - and it means that Blackburn can’t celebrate their first point of the season with quite the fervour they would have had the full time whistle blown just a little bit earlier.
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