Fulham were 4-1 down on aggregate at one stage but a stunning fight back culminated in Clint Dempsey chipping a dramatic winning goal late in the second-half.
The match got off to a lively start with both sets of fans in good voice at the Cottage. Unfortunately for the Whites, it was Juventus who struck first with a goal from their very first attack. David Trezeguet was in the right place at the right time to get on the end of a scuffed clearance. The French striker picked his spot and side-footed a low finish past Mark Schwarzer.
But it was only a matter of time before Fulham were back on level footing on nine minutes, and once again that man Bobby Zamora was on target. Zamora controlled a cross from Paul Konchesky on his chest before volleying a fierce effort past Antonio Chimenti.
As the atmosphere kicked up a notch Mauro Camoranesi entered the referee’s book for a late tackle on Konchesky. In contrast to the first leg, Fulham were certainly on the front foot with Zamora looking to stretch the Juve defence with some penetrating runs in behind. One such run on 12 minutes was almost brilliantly found by a long pass from Chris Baird.
Fulham continued to press in a real edge-of-the-seat first-half. With Juventus dedicating most of their time to keeping the Whites at bay – Fulham looked the most likely to find the next goal. Both Damien Duff and Simon Davies were seeing their fair share of ball as Fulham used the full width of the pitch well.
The battle between Paul Konchesky and Mauro Camoranesi down Fulham’s left side was a key area in determining the Whites’ defensive success.
Fulham were handed a huge boost on 26 minutes when Fabio Cannavaro was shown a straight red card after he was adjudged to have brought down the rapidly advancing Zoltan Gera after Zamora had put the Hungarian through on goal.
From the ensuing free-kick Chimenti produced an exceptional save to deny Zamora’s goal bound effort. Game on.
The dismissal forced Alberto Zaccheroni to immediately replace Antonio Candreva with Zdenek Grygera. It was a brave step as Juventus pushed Diego up front to partner Trezeguet.
The game had turned into attack versus defence as Fulham looked to break down a well organised Juventus back line.
Simon Davies struck the crossbar with a free kick shortly before Dickson Etuhu stuck the post with a header from close range. The warning signs were there and Fulham deservedly took the lead on 39 minutes following a wonderful piece of attacking play. Zamora flicked a delightful ball into the path of Simon Davies whose low cross was struck high into the net by Zoltan Gera – sending the Craven Cottage crowd wild.
Fulham got the second-half underway attacking the Hammersmith End. And the Whites drew level on aggregate almost immediately when Zoltan Gera maintained his composure to fire home from the penalty spot on 49 minutes. Gera’s back-heel in the Juventus area found Damien Duff whose cross struck the arm of Diego – the referee had to hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Fulham were given a timely reminder of the attacking prowess Juventus possessed when Trezeguet volleyed a shot on target after a quick Juventus counter-attack. Nonetheless, it remained an attack very much against the run of play as Fulham worked the ball well from flank to flank in search of a fourth goal.
A slight lull in play followed which Juventus used to slow the pace of the game down and gradually advance up the pitch. Juve changed tack slightly as they looked to make a number of driving runs through the centre of Fulham’s midfield rather that try to pass their way through.
A powerful shot from Simon Davies was parried out by Chimenti on 70 minutes as Fulham resumed their attempts on goal. Roy Hodgson made an attacking substitution soon after when he introduced Clint Dempsey for Stephen Kelly. Simon Davies moved to right back as Dempsey joined Zamora up front and Gera moved out to the left flank.
Fulham found a new lease of life after the change and came close to netting when a Simon Davies cross flashed through the Juventus penalty area. Another cross from Davies on 77 minutes was met firmly by the head of Dempsey, only to be parried away by Chimenti.
Mohamed Sissoko, Juventus’ main protagonist in their defensive efforts, was having a fine game. But Chimenti was again called into action on 80 minutes when he parried a powerful Zoltan Gera effort away from danger.
Fulham scored a dramatic winner on 82 minutes through a delightful chipped finish from Clint Dempsey. The Fulham substitute found himself in space on the edge of the penalty area and dinked a world-class finish over Chimenti to give Fulham the aggregate lead.
Juventus were shown their second red card of the evening in ectra time after Jonathan Zebina kicked out at Damien Duff.
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From the Other Side Looking back on Thursday's historic game at Craven Cottage between Fulham and Juventus, visiting manager Alberto Zaccheroni gave his assessment of the match:
"We are disappointed with the result," he said.
"We feared Fulham and they played well but as soon as we went down to 10 men we struggled.
"There is no doubt that our defence needs to be improved. It is a shame because we really wanted to progress to the next round of the tournament.
"We had scored first, and were playing well, but the sending-off of Cannavaro gave them the lift they needed. They began to pressure us, and we suffered.
"Overall, they were much better than us, and they had the will to play a dynamic match.
"The team was doing well with two players behind the striker, but this was when it was 11 versus 11.
"Even with 10 players, we should have done better. It is frustrating to go out of the tournament in this way.”
Hodgson's Euro Stars Speaking after Thursday evening's fantastic 5-4 aggregate victory over Juventus, Roy Hodgson gave his post-match reaction:
"The atmosphere was electric," said Hodgson. "We could not have had a worse start and an uphill task became even more uphill. But I was fully aware that there were 89 minutes to go. By half-time, I thought we were looking good to win.
"We went behind to a simple goal which made an uphill task even steeper but even from that point the team started to play well and the crowd got behind us and even at half time I thought we were looking good to win the game.
"It was never going to be impossible to turn it around and luckily that has happened. It is a great win for the club - it must come close to the greatest night in its history.
“But this team constantly surprises me. I can never recall a recovery like that.
“People say they had players missing but you look on the bench and they had Del Piero, Iaquinta and Poulsen so we were still playing a very strong Juventus team.
"To get to the quarter-final of this competition is extremely good because we played our first match at the end of July and we will still be playing in this competition next month.
"When I reached the final (as manager of Inter Milan) our European campaign was nowhere near as long as this one has been, I think it encompassed 12 games including a two-legged final.
"By the end of the next match we'll have played 16 games now and I think it is a remarkable achievement that the boys have done so well.
“It was a great night of football, the crowd was fantastic and many of them will remember this night for a long time to come. I know we will.”
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A Dream Come True “Absolutely unbelievable!” was how Chris Baird described Fulham's 4-1 victory over Juventus as the Northern Ireland international reflected on one the biggest matches of his career on Thursday evening.
“Obviously it was disappointing going a goal behind but we picked ourselves up and got a goal back," Baird explained. "Obviously the sending off had a bearing on the game but having said that we were on top.
“To get this far, even before this result, has been a great journey for us and we didn’t want it to end. This was a bonus for us after having a great season last year and to get to the Quarter Finals of the Europa League is a massive achievement for the Club.
“I got a text from one of my mates saying ‘you don’t get much bigger than that’ and to be fair I don’t think we’ve had bigger than that in our careers. We’re going to enjoy it but we’ll be looking forward to the next game now.
"It’s important to continue that form in the League on Sunday when we play Manchester City because that is going to be another very tough game."
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'Absolutely Unbelievable!' “Absolutely unbelievable!” was how Chris Baird described Fulham's 4-1 victory over Juventus as the Northern Ireland international reflected on one the biggest matches of his career on Thursday evening.
“Obviously it was disappointing going a goal behind but we picked ourselves up and got a goal back," Baird explained. "Obviously the sending off had a bearing on the game but having said that we were on top.
“To get this far, even before this result, has been a great journey for us and we didn’t want it to end. This was a bonus for us after having a great season last year and to get to the Quarter Finals of the Europa League is a massive achievement for the Club.
“I got a text from one of my mates saying ‘you don’t get much bigger than that’ and to be fair I don’t think we’ve had bigger than that in our careers. We’re going to enjoy it but we’ll be looking forward to the next game now.
"It’s important to continue that form in the League on Sunday when we play Manchester City because that is going to be another very tough game."
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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zRxqbTH-os)
This post has been edited by MEDS on 19 Mar 2010, 17:43
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ფულჰემი, F. F. C. FULHAM (II ნაწილი)
