Fulham advanced to the knockout stages of the Europa League after an entertaining 3-2 victory away at Basle.
Cottagers hang on after thrilling 3-2 victory
Fulham advanced to the knockout stages of the Europa League after an entertaining 3-2 victory away at Basle.
Roy Hodgson's men needed a win to overtake their Swiss opponents in Group E and snatch second spot, and two goals from Bobby Zamora at the end of the first half set them on their way.
The opening period was even until Basle's defence went to sleep in the 42nd minute as Zamora poked home an excellent Bjorn Helge Riise cross at the back post - the striker then doubled the lead with a header three minutes later after another great ball from Riise.
Basle came out strongly after the break and were awarded a penalty following a Chris Smalling handball, which experienced forward Alexander Frei duly dispatched on 64 minutes.
Fulham were then under pressure but Zoltan Gera looked to have sealed the win with a cool finish with 13 minutes to go, although Marco Streller scored a header in the 87th minute to ensure a nervy end.
Roy Hodgson will be happy to maintain his attitude of indifference to the Europa League if Fulham continue to play like this, given they were without at least eight first-team regulars.
Brede Hangeland, Damien Duff and Clint Dempsey started on the bench to ensure they are fresh for Saturday's Barclays Premier League appointment with Manchester United, which Hodgson, unlike Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, deemed a priority.
Erik Nevland, Paul Konchesky and Chris Baird were all suspended and while injured duo Andrew Johnson and Simon Davies did not travel, Fulham did at least have Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu back.
Away form
With Fulham travelling well in the Premier League - one defeat in 10 matches - Hodgson has used Europe to give his fringe players an opportunity to shine.
Riise supplied both crosses for Zamora's double strike just before the interval and he set the tone in the first minute with a teasing ball that just evaded the on-rushing Jonathan Greening.
Zamora and Riise caused the Basle defence problems throughout the first half and they almost combined to open the scoring after 15 minutes.
The Norway international launched one of his customary raids down the right but delayed his ball through to Zamora a fraction too long and the Fulham striker had strayed fractionally offside before driving the ball low into the corner.
Basle's centre-backs were struggling to contain Zamora's physicality and he was frustrated to be called back again by the referee after wrestling his way past Abraham and into the box.
At one stage it appeared as if that frustration would get the better of Zamora when he booked for a careless challenge - but it Basle's creaking resistance that snapped first.
Fulham launched a swift counter-attack from a dubiously awarded free-kick, Riise swung a perfectly-weighted cross into space behind the Basle defence and Zamora threw himself at the ball to score from six yards.
Zamora then executed a text-book piece of centre-forward play, chesting the ball down for Riise to surge down the right before arriving at the far post to head Fulham into a two-goal lead at the interval.
Confidence
Zamora's confidence was flowing and after earning a free-kick on the edge of the box with a clever piece of trickery, his low strike was deflected and forced a smart diving save from home keeper Massimo Colomba.
Basle, who were unbeaten at home in Europe this season, began to build the
