Fulham still in the hunt

Fulham 1 CSKA Sofia 0

Fulham’s hopes of reaching the Europa League knockout stages will go down to the wire after Zoltan Gera earned them victory against CSKA Sofia at Craven Cottage.

Needing to match Group E rivals Roma on the night, Roy Hodgson’s men did their part with maximum points against their Bulgarian opponents, who had only had Luboslav Penev in the dug-out for the second half after their coach nearly missed the trip altogether.

Danny Murphy, making his first appearance in six weeks after a knee injury, missed a penalty but Gera headed home to spare his captain’s blushes. They travel to Basle on Wednesday, December 16 still with a slim hope of reaching the last 32.

Penev was named on the team sheet for the visitors after making the late trip to London when a ban on him leaving Bulgaria, for a debt owed, was lifted.

His side struck the crossbar early on but only genuinely threatened when he emerged in the second half, although his side ultimately have only one point from their five matches in the group.

That early chance came when Todor Timonov latched onto a loose clearance and got his shot away before John Pantsil arrived with the challenge, with the ball rebounding to safety after smacking the crossbar.

Then came Murphy’s ninth-minute penalty when Gera was fouled by Ivan Ivanov, an offence so blatant there was no need for the extra official behind the goal that have been trialled in this competition.

After his time on the sidelines, Murphy’s ring-rusty spot-kick was sidefooted over the crossbar.

The hosts, however, were ahead in the 15th minute when Bjorn Helge Riise won a 50-50 ball after a corner was cleared, he dashed down the right flank and crossed for Gera to nod home from close range.

Bobby Zamora, also back in the side after a knock ruled him out last weekend, could have double the lead but volleyed over after Gera nodded in his direction on the edge of the area.

Fulham were cutting through the CSKA defence every time they gained possession, with Christopher Smalling heading over from a corner, Riise failing to direct a shot from a promising position and Simon Davies dragging wide after Zamora had headed in his path.

The only thing that knocked the hosts off their stride was the elbow of Viktors Morozs, which connected with Gera’s face and earned the midfielder a yellow card.

Hodgson took off Brede Hangeland at the break and replaced him with Aaron Hughes, giving his two first-choice centre-backs a half each ahead of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash against Sunderland.

With Penev in the dug-out for the second half, Michel was brought on and set up a chance for Todor Yanchev, with Stephen Kelly required to race back and make a tackle in the six-yard area.

Spas Delev then missed an opportunity to make Fulham pay for their first-half wastefulness – but he went just wide after meeting a cross with a volley.

Riise went over in the penalty area before the end but it was right in front of the extra official – and quite rightly there was no spot-kick awarded this time.

Damien Duff came on and was needed to clear off the line when Kosta Yanev got his shot through a ruck of players. CSKA felt they should have had a penalty for a Kelly handball just before the effort.