Josh Bowler halts rampant Fulham to earn surprise point for Blackpool

By Fulham’s recent standards, this was a meagre result. Just when it seemed Marco Silva had the Championship sussed, promotion inevitable, the division threw up another one those oddities, a plot twist to remind us that nothing is a formality in this league.

Aleksandar Mitrovic made it 28 goals for the season, three off Ivan Toney’s record-breaking tally last season, but the runaway leaders were ultimately held by Blackpool, for whom this point will provide encouragement that they could again make a run for the play-offs, this time from 14th, after winning promotion from League One via Wembley last season.

Fulham could have feasibly been four goals up in the first seven minutes such was their early domination but Blackpool turned the tide after a medical emergency in the stands, which delayed play for 40 minutes and disrupted Fulham’s rhythm.

The game was paused on 13 minutes and, after the referee Peter Bankes directed both teams off the pitch, a man was taken to hospital in an ambulance after suffering a cardiac arrest in the Hammersmith End.

Before leaving the field, both sets of players tried to keep warm, zipping passes around and the Blackpool defender Richard Keogh and goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw were embroiled in conversation, presumably plotting a route back into the game.

Fulham had bombarded Blackpool from kick-off, Mitrovic stooping in front of Keogh to meet a Denis Odoi cross with 55 seconds on the clock. A couple of minutes later Fabio Carvalho, a prodigious talent, flicked another Odoi cross goalwards but his effort dribbled towards Grimshaw.

Fulham were living up to their status as the most prolific team in Europe – they have scored 74 goals this season, one shy of Norwich’s total in this division last