Preston 1-1 Fulham: Marco Silva's side drop two points in their promotion chase after Ched Evans' controversial equaliser for the hosts following a Tim Ream opener at Deepdale

  • American defender Tim Ream gave table-topping Fulham the lead on 15 minutes 
  • But Preston sub Ched Evans forced ball over the line from a corner to equalise 
  • Fulham felt there was a handball as Evans scored but had to settle for just a draw 

VAR is not universally popular in the Premier League, but Fulham lived to regret not having it in the Championship as their promotion push was held up in the wind at Deepdale.

They were holding on to a slender lead when in the 72nd minute, Preston substitute Ched Evans bundled in an equaliser from Ben Whiteman's corner.

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The protests from Fulham were vehement though, and with good reason as Evans' initial header had struck the hand of team-mate Emil Riis before it was put in at the second attempt.  

American defender Tim Ream (second right) scored the opener for Fulham after 15 minutes
The centre-half turned in Jean Michael Seri's ball in from close range to give his side the lead

MATCH FACTS: PRESTON VS FULHAM 

Preston (3-5-2): Iversen 6; van den Berg 7, Lindsay 6, Hughes 6 (Cunningham 90+4, 3); Barkhuizen 6 (Storey 53, 5), McCann 6, Whiteman 6, Browne 6, Earl 6; Riis 8, Maguire 5 (Evans 60, 6)

Substitutes not used: Hudson (GK), Johnson, Ledson, Sinclair

Goalscorer: Evans 72

Bookings: van den Berg, Evans

Manager: Frankie McAvoy 7

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Rodak 6; Odoi 6, Ream 7, Adarabioyo 6, Robinson 5; Seri 6 (Onomah 69, 4), Reed 6; Wilson 6, Carvalho 5 (Knockaert 81, 3), Kebano 5 (Decordova-Reid 69, 4); Mitrovic 5

Substitutes not used: Gazzaniga (GK), Tete, Hector, Muniz

Goalscorer: Ream 15

Bookings: Robinson, Onomah

Manager: Marco Silva 6

Referee: Chris Kavanagh 5

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They were also unhappy about the challenge on goalkeeper Marek Rodak. But without the option of television replays to examine it, the goal stood.

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And for manager Marco Silva, referee Chris Kavanagh's decision to allow it was the simple difference between a hard-fought ugly win and a disappointing draw.

'The goal came from a big, big mistake from the referee and the linesman,' moaned Fulham's Portuguese boss.

'It was a clear foul on the goalkeeper, and a handball. It's difficult for us to accept something like that. Our second half we had a bad performance, and unfortunately so did the referee.

'Even if we did not play in our way in the second half, we lost three points and it was not our fault.'

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It may have been controversial, but the point was merited by Preston as they fought back from conceding an early goal to Tim Ream.

'It was the least we deserved from the second half, although there was a wee bit of controversy about it,' said North End manager Frankie McAvoy. 'To a man, I thought our players were fantastic.'

It was the second game in the space of three days in which Fulham had given up unexpected points and it was an untypically disjointed performance in which the Championship's top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic failed to fire.

They had toiled for 90 minutes without finding the net against Wayne Rooney's Derby County on Wednesday night, but it looked like business as usual when they scored here after 15 minutes. 

But home substitute Ched Evans (pictured left) bundled in to equalise with 20 minutes left

The Cottagers had already monopolised the ball and won a number of corners before they prised open the home defence with only a quarter of an hour gone.

Jean Michael Seri delivered a free-kick on the right-hand side, which Trent Alexander-Arnold would have been proud, as it fizzed into the corridor of uncertainty and Fulham captain Tim Ream could steer it into the net from less than six yards.

Mitrovic's 21 goals have obviously dominated their early charge, but Ream became the 12th different player to score for the league leaders, showing there is a threat throughout the side.

They appeared comfortable but Riis nearly knocked them out of their stride as the Danish striker robbed Antonee Robinson. He cut into the area, but his effort was deflected just beyond the near post.

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The striker forced the ball home from a Ben Whiteman corner; Fulham felt there was a handball

With 12 goals to his name this season, Riis carried the most obvious threat for North End and he was causing problems again as he peeled off to the back post, but there were no takers for his dangerous ball across the area.

Robinson was then living dangerously moments after the restart when he was caught out by Tom Barkhuizen and took the man out with a strong challenge just outside the box, but after a long wait while Barkhuizen had treatment, the left-back escaped with a yellow card.

That galvanised the home team for whom Riis remained their biggest threat. After taking a long throw, he was testing Marek Rodak with a low drive from 20 yards.

Preston had penned the visitors in their own half and they had their reward through Evans, and Riis' hand. Suddenly the promotion favourites had to up their game, but the damage had been done and they failed to find a winner.

But with none of the chasing pack appearing capable of putting together a meaningful winning run, the Londoners should not be too concerned as they put another point on the board towards their ultimate goal.