Hamburg 0-0 Fulham

Posted Friday, April 23, 2010 by Goal.com

The Rothosen were the dominant side throughout the game, but they were unable to find the net against the Cottagers...

Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Fulham and will face a tough task in London if they are to progress to the final of the Europa League.

The home side started the match with attacking intentions and created their first chance of the match after only two minutes of play. However, Ruud van Nistelrooy's first touch was poor and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer plucked the ball off his feet before he could get a shot off.

HSV midfielder Piotr Trochowski opted to try his luck from long range only minutes later, but the German international failed to get his shot on target and the ball went wide of the Fulham goal.

The Cottagers got their first chance of the game in the 15th minute. A long ball reached Bobby Zamora, who laid the ball off for the on-rushing Zoltan Gera. The Hungarian's attempt deflected off the back of Jerome Boateng though and went wide for a corner.

Jonathan Pitroipa ran at the Fulham back line about five minutes before the interval and the winger got the space to fire in a shot. However, his attempt went behind without ever troubling Schwarzer.

Van Nistelrooy then finally managed to shake off his marker for a moment in the dying minutes of the first half, but the Dutch hitman's shot was too weak to trouble the Fulham custodian.

Paolo Guerrero ran at the Fulham defence minutes after the break and looked dangerous in the one-two with Van Nistelrooy. Nevertheless, the English side didn't allow Guerrero any space and the Peruvian striker ballooned his shot high and wide of the target.

The Cottagers came close to breaking the deadlock at the hour mark. Gera ran down the left wing before sending in a dangerous cross for Clint Dempsey, but HSV defender Joris Mathijsen cleared the ball with a superb sliding effort to prevent the American from scoring.

Czech midfielder David Jarolim opted to try his luck from the edge of the box only minutes later, but the experienced midfielder aimed too high and the chance went begging.

HSV had their biggest chance of the match in the 70th minute. Van Nistelrooy set up Pitroipa down the right and the Burkina Faso winger fired in a powerful strike headed for the top corner, only to see Schwarzer tip the ball over the bar.

The following corner resulted in an opportunity for Trochowski, who unleashed a ferocious long range strike from 20 yards out. However, Schwarzer again showed his class to deny the German side. The Australian 'keeper was once again important for Fulham only minutes later when he pulled of a strong save to deny Jarolim.

Substitute Mladen Petric almost helped his side to a crucial home win in the 89th minute after Dickson Etuhu failed to clear a corner kick. The Croatian forward tried his luck from a narrow angle, but Schwarzer wasn't troubled too much by Petric's volley.