Bobby Zamora's double sees Fulham slip through to knockout phase

Posted Thursday, December 17, 2009 by theguardian.com

Bobby Zamora's double sees Fulham slip through to knockout phase
Zoltan Gera, right, celebrates after scoring Fulham's third with Bobby Zamora, who got the other two.

Bobby Zamora continued his hot run of form as Fulham defied -5C temperatures and falling snow in Switzerland to secure a place in the last 32. The striker capped a fine performance with two goals before the interval and has now scored four in three games.

Zoltan Gera put Fulham 3-1 ahead with a neat sidefoot finish after Basel had profited from a dubious penalty awarded against Chris Smalling but the Swiss side set up a nervous few minutes with a second from Marco Streller, although the draw which would have secured their passage was denied them and the London side join the Group E winners Roma – 3-0 winners at CSKA Sofia – in Friday's draw for the first two knockout rounds.

"I am particularly pleased for the fans," said Roy Hodgson, Fulham's manager. "I walked around Basel today and I was stopped by fans saying how much they were enjoying the adventure. I am looking forward to the draw to see who we get and then we see how far we can go. I wouldn't mind playing Juventus."

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 Premier League appointment with Manchester United which Hodgson, unlike the Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, deemed a priority. Erik Nevland, Paul Konchesky and Chris Baird were suspended and the injured Andrew Johnson and Simon Davies did not travel, but Fulham did at least have Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu back.

Bjarne Helge Riise supplied both crosses for Zamora's goals before the interval, the first after Fulham launched a swift counter-attack from a dubiously awarded free-kick, the Norwegian swinging a cross into space behind the defence and the striker throwing himself at the ball to score from six yards. Zamora then executed a fine 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.

Basel, who were unbeaten at home in Europe this season, were gifted a route back into the game with a dubious penalty. Federico Almerares skipped into the box and his cross struck Smalling in the stomach but on the advice of an assistant the penalty was awarded and Alexander Frei scored.

Zamora was replaced by Duff 10 minutes from time and received a standing ovation from the 1,200 or so travelling fans who will now look forward to Manchester United's visit at the weekend. "Bobby Zamora carried on from where he left off in the Premier League," Hodgson added. "I took him off as a precaution, he had a slight problem with his back. But he's got to be delighted with his performance.

Bobby is one of our more popular players, he has a chant of his own and the fans seem to appreciate and like him. The one criticism is he hasn't scored enough goals but nine goals is a pretty good return for any forward.

We were pretty good value for the goals we scored and we could have scored more."