Zamora stars as Fulham fairytale continues

FULHAM’S extraordinary season took another twist as they secured their place in the semi-finals of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in Germany.

Bobby Zamora’s 19th goal of the season after just 21 seconds secured a 3-1 aggregate success after a disciplined performance from Roy Hodgson’s side. The German champions rarely threatened the Cottagers, who will face Hamburg for a place in the final.

“I’m delighted with the performance, it’s very strong to come here and win 1-0 in a game we had control over for long periods,” Hodgson said.

Zamora, who scored his 19th goal of the season, said: “It was that quick and early that I had nothing to think about. It was just hit the target and I managed to score.”

Zamora was a constant threat and his performance was even more impressive given that he had been a doubt before the game with an Achilles injury.

Hodgson had stressed the need to pressure Wolfsburg early on and his side duly obliged by taking the lead after just 21 seconds. Zoltan Gera laid the ball off to Zamora, who performed a clever turn to shrug off Simunek on the edge of the box and beat Diego Benaglio with a calm finish.

Fulham could have had a second six minutes later but Gera was denied by a fantastic save from Benaglio.

Wolfsburg thought they equalised in the 12th minute before Grafite’s effort was ruled out for offside.

Fulham went close to sealing the win just before the hour when Murphy’s clever chip played Zamora through. But the striker’s first touch let him down and Benaglio came out to stifle his tame shot.

Again the Cottagers had a golden chance to seal it with 10 minutes left but Murphy’s shot was cleared off the line by Barzagli. Hangeland then scrambled back to clear Grafite’s shot off the line after he reacted quickest to Dzeko’s effort that struck a post.

Atletico Madrid progressed to the semi-finals after edging past Spanish rivals Valencia 2-2 on away goals following a tense 0-0 in the second leg at the Vicente Calderon. Atletico will now face former favourite Fernando Torres and his Liverpool side.

Hamburg, the host city for this year’s Europa League final, face Fulham after the Germans beat Standard Liege 3-1, sealing an aggregate 5-2 win.

WOLFSBURG: Benaglio, Pekarik (Dejagah 35), Simunek (Rever 76), Barzagli, Schafer, Riether, Josue, Gentner (Martins 61), Misimovic, Grafite, Dzeko.

FULHAM: Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Murphy, Etuhu, Duff, Gera (Nevland 82), Davies (Riise 86), Zamora.

Ref: Viktor Kassai (Hungary).