With Fulham down 1-0 to newly-promoted Cardiff City in the first half, Martin Jol proved to everyone watching how desperate he was to save his job.
Already down one substitution due to a Scott Parker injury, Jol made a tactical substitution in the 38th minute by hanging youngster Alex Kacaniklic out to dry and bringing on Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz from the bench.
Whaddaya know, it worked.
Just seven minutes later, on the stroke of halftime, Ruiz produced a stunning goal out of nothing to level the score at 1-1.
He received the ball from Sascha Riether outside the top of the box, switched to his left foot, and curled the ball into the back of the next, leaving Cardiff keeper David Marshall to do nothing but scratch his head.
Fulham may well need a win to save Jol’s job, especially after they were clearly the lesser club in the first half, but Ruiz could well have given the club the spark they needed headed into the halftime dressing rooms.
You can tune in to the second half on NBC Sports Live Extra.
