Fulham manager Roy Hodgson says he was very happy to come away from the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Hamburg (9/5 to win the 90 minute betting) with a goalless draw heading into next week’s return match.
The Cottagers had to show some stubborn resistance to come away with the draw as the German outfit dominated possession for long periods of the game and had Hodgson’s men penned in their own half for much of the match.
Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer produced four fine saves to keep his side in it and the west London outfit could have even snatched an unlikely win with Zoltan Gera seeing his shot narrowly deflected wide in the first half.
Fulham (3/1 to win the Europa League) will now fancy their chances of making it through to the final having never lost a European match at Craven Cottage.
Despite keeping a Ruud van Nistelrooy lead Hamburg at bay Hodgson was keen to play down talk of his side having a sizeable advantage over the Bundesliga side, insisting the game could easily go either way.
“There is a lot of football to be played and Hamburg are a very good team. If they score a goal next week the advantage passes to them,” said Hodgson.
“The tie is open but I am delighted about that because it is very easy to put yourself out of contention.”
While Fulham will be able to enjoy their private jet back to England after a 600-mile coach trip to get to Hamburg they will have one worry on their mind after top scorer Bobby Zamora was forced off in the second half with an Achilles injury.
The 29-year-old has been struggling with the problem for a number of weeks now and needed treatment before the start of the game in order to get him match fit.
However, Zamora only lasted 52 minutes before he had to leave the field and he now faces a race against time to be fit to face Hamburg when they head to the United Kingdom next week.
Hodgson confirmed that it was unlikely Zamora would feature in Sunday’s match against Everton (2/5 to beat Fulham on the Premier League coupon) as Fulham prepare to rest a number of key players with one eye on next Thursday’s match.
The likes of Gera, Danny Murphy and Simon Davies could also find themselves either on the bench or left at home.
However, having picked up a point the last time they visited Merseyside to face Liverpool Hodgson’s side might fancy their chances of getting another positive result, even with a scratch side.
Everton will desperate to take all three points from the game with seventh spot in the league having been confirmed as a way into the Europa League this week and with the Toffees five points behind local rivals Liverpool in the league.
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