Sunderland's sweat ends in tears as Saha steals in

Fulham 1 Sunderland

Sunderland arrived in London adamant that they could maintain their Premiership status, but left the capital last night with one foot firmly entrenched in the First Division. No matter that they outplayed Fulham for long periods, this latest defeat, coupled with West Ham's victory over Tottenham, leaves Howard Wilkinson's men rooted to the foot of the table and seven points from safety.

Fulham's assistant manager, Christian Damiano, had the good grace to acknowledge that his team had been "very lucky because Sunderland had a lot of chances", but creating openings is not enough. "The stats and the result don't add up," said a despondent Wilkinson, "but we're now going to find it very difficult to stay up."

The omens for Sunderland were not good from the start yesterday, as news of Newcastle United's 2-1 win over Chelsea filtered through before kick-off. Matters got worse for the club faithful when their team trotted out wearing turquoise blue shirts. And then, with nine minutes gone, the Japanese international midfielder Junichi Inamoto broke down the right wing before delivering a clever cut-back to Steed Malbranque. He should have scored, but Thomas Sorensen parried. Louis Saha's follow-up was blocked by Matty Piper.

It would be a further 70 minutes before Fulham, who were playing their third game in six days, threatened the Sunderland goal again. The visitors' defence, led by the impressive loan signing from Paris St-Germain, Talal El Karkouri, looked composed until Saha netted the late, late winner.

The same, though, cannot be said for the attack. Confidence is clearly at an all-time low. How else explain Tore Andre Flo's terrible ninth-minute miss, after he had been played in behind the static Fulham defence by Stephen Wright? The Norwegian used to lap up those opportunities for Chelsea, but his chip finished wide with only Maik Taylor to beat.

Within three minutes of the restart, Flo's first-half miss was eclipsed by Kevin Kilbane. Following a short corner, Jody Craddock found himself unmarked at the far post, but his instant shot was pushed away by Taylor. Kilbane reacted quickest, but his toe-poke from three yards went wide.

"People tend to snatch at things when they are in our kind of predicament," Wilkinson said. So, too, was Flo's half-hearted attempt at a diving header on 57 minutes, after Kevin Phillips had broken free down the left and crossed. Kilbane then attempted an audacious half-volley from the failed Fulham clearance, but his shot was headed off the line by Martin Djétou.

Sunderland now had the bit between their teeth, and should have taken the lead when Phillips met Kilbane's cross, teed-up Flo at the back post, but then had to watch in horror as the Norwegian fluffed yet another chance one-on-one with the keeper. At least Flo cannot be blamed for misdirecting a difficult header from Michael Gray's 70th-minute free-kick.

The striker's numerous misses proved costly in the end, as Fulham rode their luck, soaked up 80 minutes of almost constant pressure, and then stole the points at the death. With six minutes to go, the substitute Andrejs Stolcers half-volleyed a cross from the right, which the unmarked Saha met ahead of the advancing Sorensen to secure a scarcely deserved win for Jean Tigana's men.

Fulham now have nine games left to persuade Tigana to stay on next season. For Sunderland, the issues at stake are far graver.

Fulham 1 Sunderland 0
Saha 85

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 16,286