Ecstasy and agony in equal measure

Uefa Europa League round-up: Goals from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera sent Fulham into dreamland and into the Europa League final…

Uefa Europa League round-up:Goals from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera sent Fulham into dreamland and into the Europa League final where they will take on Atletico Madrid in Hamburg next month after the Spanish side defeated Liverpool on away goals.

Fulham had to pinch themselves after coming from 1-0 down at Craven Cottage to secure their place in the final with a 2-1 win in their semi-final second leg.

After a 0-0 draw in Germany last week, the Premier League side welcomed their Bundesliga opponents to London as slight favourites to progress.

But any optimism of reaching the final, which will take place at Hamburg's Nordbank Arena on May 12th, was rattled in the 22nd minute as Mladen Petric fired a superb away goal from a 30-yard free-kick.

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However, fans on Craven Cottage's Hammersmith End had not given up hope and spent the second half willing the ball in their direction, with famous nights against Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and Wolfsburg fresh in the mind.

Fittingly it was a pass from Danny Murphy, who had described the continental campaign as a 'special adventure' earlier in the week, that allowed Simon Davies to superbly equalise in the 69th minute.

Roy Hodgson's men were then dominating their visitors and only had to wait seven minutes for the decisive goal as Gera turned in a corner to seal a famous victory.

Diego Forlan's extra-time effort sent Atletico Madrid into the final on away goals at the expense of Liverpool after a 2-2 aggregate draw after extra time at Anfield.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg Liverpool drew level just before the end of the first half through Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani's low curling shot from inside the box.

A quiet second half set up extra-time and the hosts took a 2-0 lead on the night through Yossi Benayoun's angled strike only for Forlan to smash the ball home a few minutes later.

Europa League Semi-final Second Leg

Fulham 2 Hamburg 1
(Fulham won 2-1 on aggregate)

Liverpool 2 Atletico Madrid 1 AET
(1-0 after 90 mins)
(Aggregate: 2-2)
(Atletico Madrid won on away goals)