Fulham 1 FC Basel 0:FULHAM HALTED their three-match losing streak and surged to the summit of their Europa League table with victory over Basle last night.
Danny Murphy struck the decisive goal in the 57th minute, driving home Andrew Johnson’s superb pull-back for the club captain’s third goal of the season.
Johnson had a late penalty appeal rejected after tumbling beneath defender Behrang Safari’s tackle and the England striker was lively throughout. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson fielded his second string for the draw with CSKA Sofia but named virtually his strongest available line-up tonight.
For a club that has not prioritised European competition, Fulham have made a promising start to their campaign with four points from two matches including this creditable victory over Basle.
The Swiss team will be wondering how they failed to finish with a point after Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel missed two sitters.
Streller missed a glorious chance to equalise from seven yards with eight minutes to go, allowing Fulham to cling onto all three points. The result, combined with CSKA’s defeat by Roma, means Fulham top Group E.
FULHAM: Schwarzer, Kelly, Baird, Smalling, Konchesky, Dempsey, Greening, Murphy, Riise, Zamora, Andrew Johnson. Subs not used: Pantsil, Nevland, Gera, Kamara, Hughes, Saunders, Anderson. Booked: Greening, Baird.
BASLE: Costanzo, Sahin, Abraham (Da Silva 69), Atan, Safari, Carlitos (Almerares 82), Gelabert (Chipperfield 86), Huggel, Stocker, Frei, Streller. Subs not used: Colomba, Shaqiri, Cabral, Ferati.
Referee: Michael Weiner (Germany).
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