Bobby Zamora scored one and made the other as Fulham saw off Wolfsburg 2-1 in the Europa League.
Cottagers take control of continental contest
Bobby Zamora scored one and made the other as Fulham saw off Wolfsburg 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
The England hopeful broke the deadlock shortly before the hour mark, before Damien Duff added a second just four minutes later to put the Cottagers in pole position.
Alexander Madlung pulled one back for the visitors in the final minute, ensuring they cannot yet be ruled out.
Chances proved to be few and far between during a keenly-fought but uninspiring first half, with neither side able to provide much cutting thrust.
The dangerous Edin Dzeko and Grafite were marshalled admirably by the Cottagers back four, while Zamora failed to replicate his Juventus heroics at the other end of the field.
The closest either team came to a goal was a Clint Dempsey effort in the dying seconds of the opening period, following good work by Duff, which he pulled narrowly past the post.
The German champions raised their game after the break, and Dzeko and Grafite should have done better when presented with clear sights of the target, but they were unable to find a way past Mark Schwarzer.
It was in fact Fulham who forced the breakthrough on 59 minutes as Zamora picked up the ball 20 yards from goal and curled the ball past the stranded Diego Benaglio.
Then, moments later, Duff doubled their advantage when Paul Konchesky broke down the left, crossed for Zamora and he laid the ball into the path of the Irish winger to crash home.
Wolfsburg were not to be denied, though, and snatched what could prove to be a vital away goal in the dying seconds when Madlung powered a header into the top corner, following a well worked corner routine.
The near capacity crowd welcomed the Fulham players onto the pitch with a roar, no doubt hoping their side could pull off a repeat of the epic 4-1 win over Juventus, which sealed their passage through to the last eight.
Fulham had lost all three matches since that night two weeks ago and Roy Hodgson admitted the Cottagers faced their toughest game of their European campaign against a prolific Wolfsburg side who have scored 52 times in 28 Bundesliga games so far this season.
Controlled
The Germans controlled possession and had Fulham on the back foot at the start, forcing an early corner.
Simon Davies, playing out of position at right-back, hit back for Fulham as he drifted a clever ball over the top of the Wolfsburg defence but goalkeeper Benaglio rushed out to beat Zamora to the ball.
The first 15 minutes otherwise proved to be a dry affair with both sides wasteful of possession in the final third.
Grafite nutmegged Dickson Etuhu to play in Christian Gentner who hit a low drive towards goal that was well saved by Schwarzer 20 minutes in.
Zoltan Gera had Fulham's first effort on target shortly after but his low 30-yard shot was easily saved by Benaglio.
Danny Murphy, who had missed both legs of the previous round through suspension, then combined with Zamora but the midfielder's searching ball into the box was well cut out by a Wolfsburg defender.
Dempsey cut inside to fire at goal on the half hour but the Wolfsburg shot-stopper was equal to the test.
Benaglio then spilled a low shot from Zamora as Fulham stepped up their hunt for an opener.
Referee Damir Skomina then booked Zamora for needlessly barging over Marcel Schafer inside the Fulham half.
Duff's corner found Etuhu inside the box just before half-time but the midfielder headed narrowly wide.
Duff then raced towards the Wolfsburg goal and beat three defenders before laying the ball off to Dempsey but Fulham's match-winner against Juve could not hit the target.
Wolfsburg came out of the blocks much quicker than the home side after the break.
Dzeko, who was linked with Manchester United and AC Milan last summer, used his strength to shrug off Etuhu but the striker fired wide from inside the box.
Error
The Bosnian should have put Wolfsburg ahead soon after but he failed to hit the target from six yards after an uncharacteristic error from Brede Hangeland.
Grafite shot tamely at Schwarzer after beating the offside trap, much to the annoyance of the vocal Wolfsburg fans near the Fulham goal.
Zamora then struck for the 18th time this season to put the home side ahead with a superb curling effort.
The former Tottenham hit-man took advantage of the space given to him by Schafer to place a precise left-footed curler past Benaglio.
Zamora, who has been at odds with the Fulham fans on more than one occasion this season, chose to celebrate in a controversial fashion by cupping his ear with his hand towards the home fans.
Duff then doubled Fulham's lead four minutes later after picking up the ball off Zamora in the box to coolly slot past Benaglio.
Dempsey surged forward as Fulham looked for a third against the shell-shocked Germans.
The home fans sensed a goal and they thought they should have had a penalty when Duff went down under pressure from Schafer in the Wolfsburg box.
Murphy's stray pass inadvertently played in Grafite with 10 minutes to go but he was forced to shoot wide thanks to pressure from Aaron Hughes.
Wolfsburg stepped up their search for an away goal and Grafite then caused Schwarzer to pull off a fine diving save to his left after he was given space on the edge of the box.
Hodgson looked to shore up his side's defences by introducing Chris Baird for Murphy, who came off to a standing ovation from the home fans.
The move failed to stifle the Germans' attack and Wolfsburg put themselves well and truly back in the tie when Madlung rose to beat Schwarzer from a Zvjezdan Misimovic cross near the end.
| Fulham |
Team Statistics |
VfL Wolfsburg |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 1 |
Corners |
4 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.1 |
Passing Success |
74 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
25 |
| 63.6 |
Tackles Success |
76 |
| 56.7 |
Possession |
43.3 |
| 51.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.2 |
|
