Zamora keeps Wolfsburg at bay
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 win after a disciplined performance from Roy Hodgson's side.
The German champions rarely threatened the Cottagers, who will now face Hamburg for a place in the final.
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.
Wolfsburg struggled to get a grip on proceedings in an up-tempo game but thought they had equalised in the 12th minute before Grafite's effort was ruled out for offside from Andrea Barzagli's cross.
Highly-rated Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, reminded Fulham of the threat he posed by flicking on a dangerous Zvjezdan Misimovic corner across the box in the 29th minute.
Wolfsburg manager Lorenz Gunther Kostner replaced defender Peter Pekarik with Ashkan Dejagah and the striker almost made an immediate impact but his dangerous low cross was cut out by Aaron Hughes.
Fulham went close to sealing the win just before the hour when Murphy's clever chip played Zamora through. The Fulham fans held their breath but the striker's first touch let him down and Benaglio came out to stifle his tame shot.
Murphy shot over after turning two defenders while Zamora and Gera continued to pose a threat. At the other end Dzeko forced Schwarzer into a brilliant one-handed save with a volley from the edge of the box.
Fulham had a golden chance to seal the win with 10 minutes left but Murphy's shot was cleared off the line by Andrea Barzagli. Brede Hangeland then scrambled back to clear Grafite's shot off the line after he reacted quickest to Dzeko's shot that had rebounded off a post.
