The Greatest Night in Fulham’s History: Clint Dempsey seals a Miraculous 4-1 Victory over the Mighty Juventus
The Greatest Night in Fulham’s History: Clint Dempsey seals a Miraculous 4-1 Victory over the Mighty Juventus
Facing one of Europe’s most illustrious clubs, Fulham managed to pull off the unimaginable by claiming a comprehensive 4-1 victory over one of Italy’s best teams. Going into the match already 3-1 down on aggregate from the first leg in Torino, the Cottagers returned to Craven Cottage with spirit and belief instilled in them by their classy gaffer, Mr. Roy Hodgson.
Despite a brilliant result, Juventus actually snatched a early lead as David Trezuguet’s low, left-footed strike from 10 yards out was too much for Mark Schwartzer to handle. But from then on, the Cottagers defiantly fought back with determination. To quote Clint Dempsey’s “Don’t Tread on Me” rap song, Fulham “came from the bottom and rose to the top.” Bobby Zamora, who put on a spectacular performance (average rating on SkySports.com is a 9.8) grabbed a quick equalizer. At 1-1, Fulham pushed for another goal, and when Zoltan Gera was clearly taken down by Fabio Cannavaro the former captain of Italy had to be sent off. From then on, Fulham hit the post twice in two minutes, as Simon Davies’ freekick screamed against the crossbar and Dickson Etuhu’s header from a corner slammed the right post.
Zoltan Gera then gave Fulham the lead from a few yards out after finishing a bit of flowing football from Zamora and Davies. The half finished at 2-1, but Fulham pressed on and grabbed an aggregate equalizer (4-4) as Zoltan Gera converted a penalty to make the score 3-1. Once it was 3-1, Fulham let off the gas a bit and the game died down for a few minutes. Roy Hodgson decided to sub on Clint Dempsey with about 20 minutes to go, and the American international did not disappoint, to say the least. Clint Dempsey grabbed the winner in the 82nd minute with a moment of sheer quality, the stuff dreams are made of, as “Deuce” perfectly placed a world-class chip that the dubious Antonio Chimenti could only watch go into the top corner of his far post.
Fulham have progressed to the Europa League Quarterfinals, and the West London side deserve to enjoy their glorious victory with their fans, who stuck with them the entire game. It’s times like these when I really love the beautiful game, what did you think of the match?
