Roy Hodgson was full of praise for his Fulham side after seeing them put in another star showing in Europe.
Cottagers boss delighted to have continued European adventure
Roy Hodgson was full of praise for his Fulham side after seeing them put in another star showing in Europe.
The Cottagers beat German champions Wolfsburg 2-1 at Craven Cottage on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
The Premier League side have already seen off reigning champions Shakhtar Donetsk and Italian giants Juventus in this season's competition, with a remarkable adventure unfolding on the banks of the Thames.
Victory over Wolfsburg served to write another chapter in their European fairytale, with Hodgson of the opinion that Fulham were full value for the win.
They did concede a late away goal to give the Germans hope, but they will head to the Volkswagen Arena next week holding the upper hand.
"Wolfsburg are a good team, they are champions of Germany. They have many good players, but tonight I thought we made them look reasonably ordinary," said Hodgson.
"We were certainly good value for our 2-0 lead, but of course a little bit of nervousness creeps in.
Dangerous
"A 2-0 lead is a little bit of a dangerous one, and we stopped playing a little the way we had been and let them into the game that little bit more.
"Unfortunately it led to a corner and their goal.
"But we have got to be happy that the European adventure continues at Craven Cottage and we have claimed another notable scalp."
Irish winger Damien Duff grabbed what proved to be the decisive goal on the night, with Bobby Zamora having opened the scoring and Alexander Madlung wrapping it up.
He admits Fulham are disappointed to have allowed their opponents a route back into the game, but is confident Hodgson's men can take a positive result from the return meeting and book their place in the last four.
"After the second goal we took our foot off the pedal and got a bit sloppy," the Republic of Ireland international said.
"They nicked the away goal which can be crucial, but we always back ourselves to score a goal over there. It's not a bad result and we can look forward to next Thursday."
