The middle of the line

The last home game of the Europa Cup group stage for Fulham, and one that had to be treated as a knockout cup game. CSKA needed a win to have a chance of getting into the next round, and a draw would mean that even if Fulham could beat Basel in the last game, other results would decide who finished in the top two of Group E.

Murphy and Zamora came back from injuries, thankfully, to bolster a side missing key members due to suspensions (less said about some of those red cards the better).

The visitors started brightly, and Fulham were under a little pressure for the first few minutes. Then a break lead Zoltan Gera into the box, for him to be taken down by a defender. The penalty was a clear decision, but Murphy hit the ball over the bar. Despite this, the Whites were spurred on, and a good spell of play led to several chances, culminating in a Gera headed goal in the 14th minute.

CSKA tried to come back straight away, but even with a few hairy moments, the home side held on and settled back into the game. The rest of the first period saw Fulham on top for the most part, but unable to convert attacking possession into solid chances.

For the second half, Aaron Hughes came on for Hangeland, and the CSKA manager appeared for the first time (he’d been kept in Bulgaria by the government over some ‘personal legal issue’, but got his passport in time to get a flight to London this afternoon, and then when he arrived at the Cottage had to talk his way in, but he did make it).

For the beginning of the second half, neither team appeared to have the upper hand, but as the clock ticked away, Sofia began to press as hard as they could, and the last ten minutes were looking very fraught. Duff had to save off the line from their best chance, but there were several close shots that just went wide or over.

Fulham were grateful for the final whistle when it came, and certainly have to rue plenty of good opportunities wasted. In every Group game so far, Fulham have scored one and only one goal, which is not too great, but they have kept clean sheets in two games.

In terms of players, Gera had a great game. Murphy looked solid in midfield in his first game for 7 weeks. I thought Pantsil and Davies combined very well going forward up the right wing. Smalling played his socks off at the back, and he could well get more play in the Premiership this season.

Roma came back from behind to beat Basel 2-1, which means that the Italian side have qualified with a game to spare. It also means that the game in Switzerland in two weeks’ time is all or nothing for Fulham.

It was a night for experimentation. Roy Hodgson made nine changes to the team that beat Everton on Sunday to create the line up for tonight. Only Stockdale (who stood in for the first-choice keeper at the weekend) and John Pantsil remained. However, Kamara, Gera, Greening, Nevland and Riise are good players who should be competing to be in the first team. I wonder if Hodgson’s strategy is to field essentially two different teams over the next few months. Certainly that would reduce the effect of tiredness, but it would also mean that he has more to do in terms of training and management.

The other experiment is the two extra “referee’s assistants”, who are behind the bylines. Presumably they are there to check for events near the goalmouth. But there are now six match officials, with the ref, two assistants (who used to be called linesmen) and the “4th official” who looks after the dugouts and holds up the electronic board. That’s over half a football team! I’m not sure more people is a better way to go.

I missed most of the first half, as I had to stay later than I’d hoped at work. Just as well, really, it sounds like it was quite boring, with a few chances and only one shot on target.

The second half started fairly brightly, but CSKA went ahead after about 15 minutes through a goal from Michel Platini (no, not that one, a Brazilian lad called Michel Platini Ferreira Mesquita). Fulham almost immediately equalised as Diomansy Kamara scored after a lucky bounce that took him and the ball past the keeper on the edge of the box. After that the game was pretty open, and there were chances from both teams.

Stockdale, who had a good game against Everton, did well to save a Todorov strike later on in the game. It was a surprise to see him come in in preference to last season’s reserver goalie, Pascal Zuberhuhler (who may have worked under Hodgson at Zurich Grasshoppers in 1999 before moving to FC Basel – the Whites’ next Europa Cup opponents). It seems to have paid off.

A draw away is a good result. With Basel beating Roma 2-0, a win in the next home game would put Fulham in a strong position in the group.

The game will be shown on ITV4 at 17:30 on 17th September.