Trezegol delivers: David Trezeguet hit Juve's
third
After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Barclays
Premier League less than two years ago, Fulham fans would never
have dreamt of playing Juventus in the last 16 of the Europa
League.
But here they were yesterday, sipping their beer in the sun in
one of the city's piazzas in anticipation of the biggest European
match in their club's history.
There was, therefore, a definite feeling of anti-climax when the
Stadio Olimpico boasted more empty grey seats than Juventus fans.
Fewer than 9,000 home supporters turned up in the 27,000- seater
stadium, but Fulham sold out their allocation and brought 1,537
fans from west London.
The sense of bathos continued as David Trezeguet forced a save
inside eight minutes from Mark Schwarzer and Juventus scored from
the resulting corner as Diego's delivery was headed in by central
defender Nicola Legrottaglie.
It was immediately apparent that this was not going to be a
repeat of Fulham's 4-0 FA Cup victory over Notts County, the side
who inspired Juventus' famous black and white striped shirts, and
it was Fulham who looked in danger of being turned over in
Turin.
Juventus struck again after 25 minutes. A probing build-up ended
with Jonathan Zebina sidestepping Simon Davies and Dickson Etuhu
before dispatching a fierce right-foot shot into the left hand
corner from just outside the box.
Fulham conceded one Premier League goal in the whole of February
but last night they were two down inside half an hour. Yet not only
did the English side manage to keep the score respectable, they got
an away goal with their first real attack of the match.
Lucky strike: Etuhu gives Fulham a ray of hope with
his deflected away goal
A Davies free-kick into a crowded penalty area was met
by Etuhu and the ball was deflected twice before dribbling over the
line to beat former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger. It was a
fortunate goal to say the least, but it gave Fulham the belief they
had lacked in a shellshocked first 30 minutes and sparked something
of a revival.
Brede Hangeland forced a fine save from Manninger with a
close-range header from a Davies corner and Zoltan Gera hit the
target with a left-foot strike just before half-time.
But Fulham's prominence was short-lived as Trezeguet showed his
class with the 170th goal of his Juventus career. The former France
centre forward, who is returning from injury, fired a shot at
Schwarzer from a Diego corner and hit the rebound first time to
outwit the Australia goalkeeper just before half-time.
It gets worse for Schwarzer, the Barclays Premier League player
of the month in February: he has to face Wayne Rooney at Old
Trafford on Sunday.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said: 'I thought when we went 1-0
down against the run of play and at 2-1 I thought we were looking
reasonable. There's going to be an element of fatigue but what
killed the game for us was the goal in the 46th minute.
'Our major regret was that, at 2-1, when the possibility of a
result was in our hands that we conceded a goal in added-on time in
the first half.'
But Fulham are still in this tie and boast an impressive home
record at Craven Cottage, which is sold out for the return leg on
March 18.
Scorching strike: Fulham paid the price for backing
off Jonathan Zebina
Hodgson added: 'It's not impossible. We're not out of it
yet. 'I don't think we were favourites before the game started,
we're even less favourites now but it'll be an exciting game. I've
certainly seen stranger things than us turning it
round.'
There was further good news for Fulham as Paul Konchesky and
Clint Dempsey, who both suffered knee injuries against Blackburn in
January, came through 90 minutes and half an hour respectively.
With 46 games played already this season and Manchester United,
Juventus, Manchester City and Tottenham in store over the next two
weeks, Fulham certainly need all their resources available.
Off to a flyer: Juve's Nicola Legrottaglie (third
left) nods in the opener
Hodgson said: 'It's a testing time but to come to a
place like Juventus and have as much control as we did for long
periods is very commendable.
'Perhaps we weren' t as sprightly as we've been in some games
but I thought we looked organised, capable of keeping the ball and
getting behind them, but it was the last pass or the last cross
that didn't quite arrive.
'But the Juventus back four will know they've been in a game and
will be thankful for (Fabio) Cannavaro making several vital
interceptions from crosses.'
