Goal hero Gera hands Fulham a Euro lifeline
FULHAM (1) vs CSKA SOFIA (0)
ZOLTAN GERA netted the only goal to keep alive Fulham’s hopes of reaching the last 32 of the Europa League.
The Hungarian struck after just 14 minutes to ensure the Cottagers’ fate will go right down to the wire in a fortnight’s time. Roma’s 2-1 victory over the Swiss side means Roy Hodgson’s men must win their final group game, in Basel, to progress.
Todor Timonov struck the crossbar for Sofia early on and Fulham should have made the Bulgarians pay when Ivan Ivanov checked Gera in the area but Danny Murphy blasted his penalty horribly over. But Fulham weren’t to be denied and five minutes later Bjorn Helge Riise crossed from the right and Zera powered home a header past keeper Zdravko Chavdarov.
Bobby Zamora and Simon Davies both had chances to wrap the game up before CSKA sparked a late rally with Damian Duff forced to save off his own goalline late on.