The middle of the line

You can’t get a good idea of a game from web live commentary, but it seems like Fulham deserved the win.

Zamora set up Andy Johnson for the first goal after 3 minutes, and scored himself in the 74th. Clint Dempsey took one in between, apparently it was ‘drilled’ into the top left corner six minutes into the second half.

Damien Duff got a run out for the last twenty minutes, and I hope he’ll settle in quickly. Yet another new signing, Jonathan Greening, will probably be in contention to play against Chelsea on Sunday now that he’s come across on loan from West Brom.

The first downside to the game is that Perm got a late goal, which being away from home could be valuable. If Fulham lose the away leg by 2-0, then they’d be eliminated. However, a goal from Fulham in Russia should put the tie beyond reach.

The other was a booking for Clint Dempsey. Hopefully we won’t need to worry about losing players to suspension.

As for the other teams from Britain? Everton beat Sigma Olomouc 4-0 to pretty much guarantee a group stage place (and perhaps to exorcise the demons from their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal on Saturday). Villa went down 1-0 to Rapid Vienna. Hearts were thrashed 4-0 by Dinamo Zagreb (who Fulham beat 5-1 on aggregate in the 2002-3 UEFA Cup 2nd Round). Ireland’s St Pats lost 3-0 to Steaua Bucharest, which may mean the end of their impressive run in the competition.