goal down to knock-out Hamburg and reach the final.
Liverpool, though, will be licking their wounds this morning, having been beaten on away goals by Spaniards Atletico Madrid, with ex-Manchester United striker Diego Forlan striking the decisive blow.
Having taken a 0-0 draw from their away leg in Germany, Fulham knew they were going to have to give everything to overcome German giants Hamburg.
And their challenge became even greater, when Croatian striker Mladen Petric scored a wonderful 30-yard free kick after just over 20 minutes. With the goal having come against the run of play, Fulham would have been fair to feel hard done by. And the game looked like it was petering away for them, Fulham knew they would need something special to turn the tide.
Cue Simon Davies, the welsh winger popping up to score a magnificent solo goal, turning away from the Hamburg defence before finishing. With 20 minutes to go, it was game on.
And then, seven minutes later, came a moment that will live with all Fulham fans at the ground for a long, long time. As Davies swung in the corner, the ball fell for Zoltan Gera, who turned and fired it into the net. Craven Cottage went into party time.
As the Londoners held on, and the final whistle blew, wild celebrations shook the ground, and Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, the man who has masterminded their success calling the result "a major piece of history in a very special atmosphere."
With celebrations sweeping south-west London, Merseyside was in a very different mood, with a poor season now being confounded with a semi-final exit.
Having been 1-0 down from the first leg in Spain, Liverpool knew they needed to pull perhaps their best performance of a disappointing season to reach the final. And it seemed to be going well for them when Alberto Aquilani, their star summer signing who has failed to fire so far this season, scoring the opener to put his side ahead.
And as the tie went into extra time, Liverpool scored the second goal they thought would be enough to take them to the final, Yossi Benayoun firing in the second.
But Atletico Madrid weren't finished just yet, Diego Forlan popping up to volley home the winner and take Atletico to the final.
As Liverpool's mediocre season already seems to be over, Fulham are still on the journey of a lifetime.
See you at the final then, in Hamburg, on the 12 May. Will Fulham's magical journey continue, or are Atletico Madrid ready to break another English team's heart?
No comments:
Post a Comment