Southampton new boss Juric watches as club holds Fulham to goalless draw

New Southampton manager Ivan Juric watched from the stands as the Premier League’s bottom club frustrated Fulham to earn a goalless draw.

Juric, the former Roma manager and Croatia player, was appointed on Saturday following the sacking of Russell Martin last Sunday after a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

Taking his place in the press box with his coaching staff, Juric watched as the battling Saints picked up just their sixth point of the season. However, they owed much of their survival to goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who prevented them from suffering a 14th league defeat this term.

The England international, who joined in the summer from Arsenal, had been sidelined for six weeks with a finger injury but made a number of crucial saves to deny the hosts.

Ramsdale got a fingertip to a superb curling shot from the dangerous Alex Iwobi after just three minutes and, midway through the second half, showed excellent reflexes to push over Harry Wilson’s powerful half-volley.

Substitute Adama Traore had a great chance to secure a late winner for Fulham but pulled an angled effort just wide.

Despite earning the point, Southampton remain at the bottom of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time in their history.

With just six points, they have the joint-third lowest tally of any team in Premier League history, ahead of only Sheffield United (two in 2020-21) and Sunderland (five in 2005-06).

For Fulham, this represented a missed opportunity to secure a victory that could have reduced the gap to just four points behind fourth-placed Nottingham Forest.

Entering the match unbeaten after a challenging run of four games, including a 1-1 draw with Tottenham, a 3-1 home win against Brighton, and draws against Arsenal and an away fixture at Liverpool, Marco Silva’s team dominated proceedings at the cold and windy Craven Cottage but struggled to break through.

Alex Iwobi fired three chances off target from the edge of the penalty area, and Fulham now sit ninth in the table, failing to overtake both Newcastle and Manchester City.

Juric will find encouragement in Southampton’s defensive effort, especially given their poor performance a week ago when they collapsed to concede five first-half goals against Spurs in Russell Martin’s final match in charge.

In line with their 2-1 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday, interim boss Simon Rusk led the team from the dugout, while Juric’s first match in charge will be the home game against West Ham on December 26.

Juric did get a firsthand look at Southampton’s main weakness this season—scoring goals. They have now netted just 11 times in 17 matches, which is three fewer than any other team in the top flight.

It took Saints 56 minutes to register a shot on target at Fulham, with Adam Armstrong’s effort comfortably saved by Bernd Leno. The long-suffering travelling fans even broke into sarcastic chants of “we had a shot” to mark the occasion.

However, Southampton posed little attacking threat, and Juric is acutely aware of the significant challenges ahead as he takes on the role.