HT: Fulham 2-1 Juventus - Cannavaro off as Cottagers stage thrilling comeback
Published 18:54 18/03/10 By MirrorFootball
Fulham gave themselves a great chance of making the last eight of the Europa League after they went in 2-1 up against 10-man Juventus at the break.
The Serie A giants went 4-1 up on aggregate in the second minute courtesy of David Trezeguet but Fulham hit back through an excellent volley from top scorer Bobby Zamora.
Fabio Cannavaro was then dismissed for pulling back Zoltan Gera while clean through before the Hungarian fired home Simon Davies' pull-back to make it 2-3 on aggregate.
Brede Hangeland passed a fitness test to line up at the heart of Fulham's defence. The Norway defender had been struggling with a chest injury but made the Cottagers' starting XI, which included three changes from the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Zoltan Gera, Damien Duff and Dickson Etuhu all came in to the team as Roy Hodgson's side look to overcome a 3-1 deficit from the first leg.
Third-choice goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti, 39, started in goal for Juventus but there was no place for Alessandro del Piero in Alberto Zaccheroni's team.
Hodgson's men showed little sign that they were able to match the Juventus in the first leg in Turin against a side who have won the competition three times.
Nevertheless the 25,000-plus capacity crowd at Craven Cottage were excited at the prospect of taking on the Italian giants and they were further buoyed the presence of club chairman Mohamed al Fayed, who proudly waved his scarf as he crossed the pitch before the match.
Any hopes of the Cottagers gaining an early foothold in the match were dashed in the second minute when David Trezeguet gave Juve the lead.
Hasan Salihamidzic's curling cross found Diego, who shrugged off Stephen Kelly and Hangeland to lay the ball off to the France striker, who neatly beat Mark Schwarzer.
The visitors' lead lasted just seven minutes, though, thanks to Bobby Zamora's 16th of the season.
The former Spurs striker vowed yesterday that he could get the better of Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro and he did just that by overpowering the World Cup winner to chest down Paul Konchesky's cross before powerfully beating Chimenti with his right foot.
The match was being played at a high tempo and Mauro Camoranesi entered the book for a rash challenge on Konchesky soon after.
Fulham began to take control and Cannavaro had to be quick to beat Zamora to the ball inside the six-yard box 17 minutes in.
The game remained at an intense pace and took a dramatic twist in the 27th minute when Cannavaro was sent off for colliding with Gera after the Hungarian was played through by Zamora.
It was a decision that incensed the Juve team and caused Zaccheroni to replace forward Antonio Candreva with Zdenek Grygera.
Veteran keeper Chimenti then showed no sign of his age from Zamora's resulting free-kick as he pulled off a flying one-handed save to deny the 29 year old.
The Cottagers then hit the woodwork twice within a minute as they piled on the pressure.
First Simon Davies' wicked free-kick struck the crossbar before Etuhu's point-blank header struck a post.
Juve seemed to be buckling under the pressure and found themselves 2-1 down when Gera fired into the roof of Chimenti's net after an incisive pull back from Davies in the box.
