Fulham started their new life under caretaker manager Ray Lewington with a credible 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

The Cottagers, who had earlier sacked Lawrie Sanchez after a string of poor performances, looked solid throughout the match but were unlucky to have gone behind through Marcus Bent's strike in he 70th minute. However Clint Dempsey grabbed a vital point for his side by equalizing in the 78th minute with a close range effort.

The hosts started the game strongly and came close to taking the lead through Bocanegra's header but Denny Landzaat was alert to the danger and managed to clear the ball off the line. Simon Davis and Dempsey had decent chances of breaking the deadlock but were unable to hit the back of the net.

The best chance of the half fell to Paul Konchesky when his long range shot from 35-yards out thudded against the cross bar as Fulham stepped up the attack on the Wigan goal. That was to be the last chance of the match for some time with both the teams struggling for creativity in the second half.

With Fulham unable to take advantage of their early dominance, Wigan pressed forward and were soon rewarded with a goal in the 70th minute when Titus Bramble flicked on Kevin Kilbane's cross and Bent smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

However the lead was short lived as Fulham equalized 8 minutes later through some good work by Dempsey who slotted the ball past Antti Niemi and into the net. Both the teams had good chances to retake the lead late in the game but were unable to hit the back of the net and the game finished on level terms.