Historic Victory for Fulham against Juventus in the Europa League
by Russ Goldman on Mar 18, 2010 9:55 PM GMT
16 comments
The victory today by Fulham is historic for the club. Fulham beat Juventus 4 - 1 at Craven Cottage. More important though they go ahead on in the Europa League. Fulham move on with a 5 - 4 aggregate advantage over Juventus. When the game started I hoped for a 2- 0 score in Fulham's favor. I Never would have imagined how this game played out.
The game started off terribly for Fulham. In the 2nd minute the ball fell to David Trezeguet in a very dangerous area. He knocked it past Mark Schwarzer in the corner of the net. With the score now 1 - 0 in favor of Juventus, Fulham now had to score 3 goals just to force extra time. Fulham could have easily folded at this point. I am happy to say they came fighting back.
In the 8th minute a beautiful ball was played in by Paul Konchesky. The ball hit Bobby Zamora's chest, and he blasted it in the back of the net. Fulham were now tied in the match 1 - 1, but still needed 2 more goals just to send it to extra time.
Juventus were still trying to push forward. Diego had a nice blast that went right to Mark Schwarzer. Fulham were definitely creating their chances as well. In the 22nd minute a nice cross by Simon Davies just missed Zamora.
The match changed dramatically in the 26th minute. A foul by Fabio Cannavaro on Zoltan Gera led to a red card. It looked like there was some holding and maybe tripping on Zoltan Gera. Juventus were now down to 10 men.
Fulham now took advantage of the situation, and started to create several chances. In the 29th minute off of a free kick, Bobby Zamora had a beautiful strike that was just saved by Chimenti. In the 37th minute, a Simon Davies shot off of a free kick just hits the cross bar. In the 38th minute off of a corner kick, Dickson Etuhu's header bangs off the net. Fulham were creating the chances, but they needed to breakthough with another goal.
In the 39th minute, Paul Konchesky passed the ball to Bobby Zamora. He flicked it over to Simon Davies just next to the net. Davies then passed it on to Zoltan Gera who drove it into the net for a fantastic goal. This was some of the best passing I have seen Fulham perform in a long time. The score was now 2 - 1 Fulham at the half. They stil needed to score in the second half at least once to bring it to extra time.
The second half began with some controversy. In the 48th minute a cross by Damien Duff hit the arm of Diego inside the box. Fulham were awarded a penalty. Zoltan Gera then scored his second goal as he got it past the the goalkeeper. The score was now 3 - 1, and 4 - 4 on aggregate. Did deserve a penalty? I thought it could have gone either way. I have though seen calls go against Fulham so far in the Europa League with controversial red cards. It is part of the game and each team gets its calls.
Now, Fulham needed one more goal to move them ahead in the Europa League. If the game ended 3 - 1 we would be going to extra time. Fulham were again creating several chances in the second half. In the 70th minute a blast by Davies is saved by the goalkeeper. In the 75th minute a shot by Gera just sails high over the net. In the 77th minute a great cross by Simon Davies is headed by Clint Dempsey right to Chimenti. Fulham were putting the pressure on, but time was running out in the match.
Fulham were looking for that next goal to go ahead. In the 82nd minute they got that goal. Dickson Etuhu fed the ball into Clint Dempsey. He took a stab at the ball and chipped it up into the top corner for the goal. This was a tremendous goal. Fulham were now up 4 - 1 and 5 - 4 on aggregate. They needed to hang on for about 10 minutes longer. Zebina made it easier for Fulham when he caused a foul on Damien Duff. He was given a red card as well. Fulham hung on for the victory and move on in the Europa League.
This victory I am sure means more to Fulham and there fans than Juventus. They did it the hard way. They earned it. It took an incredible effort but they got it done. Fulham won 4 - 1 and ended ahead 5 - 4 on aggregate. They move on in the Europa League.
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I watched from 2-1 and enjoyed every second of it. By 3-1 I was rooting for Fulham like Man Utd was playing. What I really got out of the game is how good Dempsey really is and that only made me want the World Cup to start now!
"College is only 4 years. The Eagles are a lifetime pursuit." - IronHank
He is a special player and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves. It was a great game. I was exhausted just watching it.
by Russ Goldman on Mar 18, 2010 10:58 PM GMT up reply actions
Dempsey's goal was sick
Good to see him recovering nicely. I’m just crossing my fingers that he’ll continue to be in form this summer!
by Martin Shatzer on Mar 19, 2010 3:09 AM GMT up reply actions
I’m still smiling ear to ear. What a fantastic result. My only regret was not taking off from work to see this game live.
Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
In Lou We Trust - The New Jersey Devils SBN Blog
Go Fulhamerica!!
How come all your most famous goals are scored by us Yanks?!?
Tell Roy we’ve got some other players that might make it in the Cottage…
I was hoping Altidore was going to come to Fulham instead of Hull.
by Russ Goldman on Mar 19, 2010 12:37 AM GMT up reply actions
It would have been great for Fulham to have secured Donovan on loan, but it looks like he’s a Merseyside boy for whenever he returns to England.
"College is only 4 years. The Eagles are a lifetime pursuit." - IronHank
by RyanGiggs11 on Mar 19, 2010 12:56 AM GMT up reply actions
What a fantastic win...way to stick it to Juve
Who cares how bad the Bay deal will look in 2013, the world is going to end in 2012 anyway
We did seem to get all the calls but each of our non-penalty goals was sublime
Fully deserved the victory today, and it was great to see Dempsey back and in fine form!
Since the admirable performance of everyone in white has already been covered...
some thoughts about the opposition. I felt a little bad for Chimenti. He was forced into action through injuries to two other keepers, and did his job admirably, I thought. There wasn’t really much he could’ve done on any of the goals, and he made a couple of phenomenal saves, especially on Zamora’s free kick immediately after the sending-off of Cannavaro.
On that subject, I obviously won’t argue, but I actually thought it was a little harsh. There was a little bit of jostling with the arms, but Gera fell because their feet got tangled, and it looked like that was incidental more than anything. (I probably would’ve been livid if it hadn’t been called, on the other hand, but I guess I’m feeling generous since it was.)
On the other hand, though Ray Hudson said during the broadcast that it was questionable, I didn’t have any questions in my mind about the penalty. Duff was in a dangerous spot, sent in a cross, there were players waiting for it, Diego’s arm was away from his body and knocked the ball down. Penalty. End of story.
Diego scared the hell out of me when he had the ball though. Guy’s got crazy skill. Seemed like he was dribbling through defenders like a hot knife through butter unless we had two or three guys on him. Brazil will be missing out if they don’t bring him to South Africa.
Ray Hudson… man, that guy is a space cadet. He knows the game well, obviously, but he leaves a lot to be desired as a broadcaster. Just doesn’t seem to know how the interaction between play-by-play and color commentary is supposed to go. I especially liked how, at about the 70 minute mark, the PBP guy (Phil Schoen, right?) asked him (paraphrasing), “If you’re Roy Hodgson, do you make an attacking change here to try to get a goal in regulation time?” And instead of answering the question, there was like 20 seconds of dead air and then the PBP guy just picked it up again. Ray is a nutbar.
Chimenti was tremendous in goal. The save he made off of the Zamora free kick was fantastic. He kept Juventus very competitive throughout the match. You have to give credit to Juventus. I think until stoppage time they played hard with as much as composure as possible.
Diego scared me as well everytime he touched the ball.
The first red card which was on Cannavaro could have been harsh. I watched it a few times and I think it could have gone either way.
I actually thought the the penalty on Diego was pretty close as well. Again, you normally see that called a penalty.
In my opinion the announcers on Gol TV were horrible. The color comentator might as well have been playing for Juventus. I remember him when Fulham played Roma at Craven Cottage. He was almost cheering Roma on. Now Fulham will play Wolfsburg in the Quarterfinals.
by Russ Goldman on Mar 19, 2010 1:00 PM GMT up reply actions
WOW! Great result. Hodgson has put together an excellent team.
I just saw the replay of Dempsey’s goal. HOLY MACKEREL!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!
Up the Cottagers
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by johnjahafanclub on Mar 19, 2010 7:05 PM GMT reply actions
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