Europa League - Nine-man Fulham lose in Rome

Eurosport - Thu, 05 Nov 14:18:00 2009

Roma came from behind to grab a 2-1 Europa Cup victory over Fulham in a game that saw the West Londoners have two players sent off.

Roma's John Arne Riise (L) celebrates with team-mate Marco Cassetti - 0

The Cottagers dominated the first half in the Stadio Olimpico and deservedly took the lead when Diomansy Kamara fired home from the spot after being tripped by Marco Andreolli.

But after the break Erik Nevland was harshly shown a straight red card for a trip from behind on Roma's Daniele De Rossi and the hosts equalised when John Arne Riise's shot from the edge of the area deflected off two players and into the back of the net.

Fulham continued to battle but the extra man took its toll and Stefano Okaka headed the winner for Roma with 15 minutes remaining.

Paul Konchesky was then given his marching orders in injury time after a late tackle on Rodrigo Taddei.

Fulham do not possess the European pedigree of their hosts but were undaunted from the off as they kept possession neatly and probed and prodded in front of the Roma back four.

The opening goal arrived after only 17 minutes and was as well-deserved as it was well-taken by Kamara.

After being tripped in the box by Andreolli - who scored Roma's injury-time leveller in the previous game between the sides at Craven Cottage - the Fulham striker dusted himself off and calmly stroked the penalty into the back of the net.

But the hosts had chances of their own and should have drawn level midway through the half.

Cicinho whipped a great cross into the six-yard box that was met by Philippe Mexes whose header was inches wide of Mark Schwarzer's right-hand post.

It was Fulham, however, who continued to carve out the better opportunities. Clint Dempsey dithered when through on goal on the half-hour mark while Kamara headed harmlessly wide when found unmarked at the far post by a cross from Konchesky.

And after Roma had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty turned down when a shot from De Rossi struck the arm of John Pantsil, Fulham had a good chance to extend their lead - but Dempsey shot wide.

However minutes after the restart the game turned on its head. Half-time substitute Nevland was only on the pitch a matter of minutes before he received his marching orders for sliding into a tackle from behind on De Rossi. The striker certainly clipped the heels of the Italian, but the tackle lacked the sort of malice that red-card offences usually possess.

Roma set about peppering the Fulham goal and the equaliser duly arrived after 68 minutes.

The ball fell to Riise on the edge of the area and his shot deflected off two Fulham players before nestling in the back of the net.

Fulham could do little to keep Roma at bay and received the knockout blow with 13 minutes to go when Okaka rose high to head home a cross from Taddei.

The visitors tried in vain to press for an equaliser but could create little to worry their opponents and their misery was compounded when Konchesky was given a straight red for a late sliding tackle on Taddei in injury time.

The result leaves Fulham in third place in Group E, two points behind Roma in second and four behind table-toppers Basel.

Toby Davis / Eurosport

Comment 9 - 28 of 28

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  1. FORZA Roma!!

    From mitsu3000gt96, on Sun 8 Nov 3:49AM

  2. yet another example of quality e.p.l. football.....NOT!­ even against roma,who are really struggling in serie a­ fulham always looked second best,the only goal they­ scored came from a penalty (though rightly so for­ clumsy late challenge) ,but second half roma were FAR­ superior.
    yet another example of the e.p.l. being the­ best league in the world! what a joke!

    From kenny f, on Sat 7 Nov 2:44AM

  3. The referee ruined the game between Roma and Fulham and­ should be severely repremanded by FIFA over the two­ straight Red card decisions he made against Nevland and­ Konchesky which should have been only Yellow cards.­ Referees like this are a disgrace to the game and­ should not be allowed to officiate in such important­ matches like this.

    From grahame c, on Fri 6 Nov 1:50PM

  4. they laughed at liverpool last weekend. bet they are­ not laughing now. hahaha

    From joerhys417, on Fri 6 Nov 11:55AM

  5. Win their last two games and Fulham are through, which­ they are more than capable of.
    Riise at­ Roma........another Rafa blunder......doesn't have­ a left back as good as him......

    From james b, on Fri 6 Nov 10:38AM

  6. what goes around comes around.

    From Alibaba_in_OZ, on Fri 6 Nov 8:42AM

  7. My bad, the degan tackle i can understand being­ compared but still a worse tackle than both last night!

    From lyncho_2000, on Fri 6 Nov 8:41AM

  8. Why is everyone comparing the two sendings off last­ night to the two against liverpool?? The ones last­ night were completely unjust where as at the weekend it­ was the last man pulling down a striker who would have­ been clean through and a second yellow!!

    From lyncho_2000, on Fri 6 Nov 8:37AM

  9. I never realised how it hurt but I can underastand and­ feel the pain Liverpool had suffered, As it happens to­ us I can now feel the pitch.
    It's time now for Refs­ being under certain board to regulate harsh­ decissions.
    At the moment they look very delicate and­ no body can touch them, they will kill our total­ flavour of football if no body step on it.
    Imagine how­ many people travels and waste time and money to­ organize themselves for the coming Chelsea v Man U­ crash, if 2 players are kicked out it will be one side­ game and as result no one will earn back the value of­ his money and time wasted.WHOEVER IS RESIPONSIBLE­ P'SE TAKE ACTION NOW!!!

    From Muba TZ, on Fri 6 Nov 7:51AM

  10. Harsh red card but great teams know how to adjust, or­ at least attempt to adjust. Fulham is a good team but­ the way they handled the sending off surprised me a bit­ because Fulham have been a really good team. Roma is­ rubbish and tey will go nowhere. Nevertheless,­ suggesting th ref is anti-English and that sort of­ cr'ap talk is senseless..

    From Half A Brain, on Fri 6 Nov 3:57AM

  11. 16-HARD CHEESE FULHAM BUT AS LONG AS SHITPOOL KEEP­ LOSING IM HAPPY

    From PLOWKING, on Fri 6 Nov 2:34AM

  12. No.15, i can only assume you are a Liverpool player. In­ truth Fulham players were harshly booked. The bookings­ of Degan and Carragher were not that harsh compared to­ that of Nevland, Konchesky's is hard to defend but­ the games outcome was already decided before that

    From Zaphenath, on Thu 5 Nov 10:14PM

  13. RIISE WHAT A PLAYER ,,WHAT A GOAL

    From anfieldroad94, on Thu 5 Nov 10:04PM

  14. EUFA

    From Michael, on Thu 5 Nov 9:59PM

  15. Promoter is a wise man.

    From John, on Thu 5 Nov 9:00PM

  16. This is so unfair! Fulham have never ever had the­ advantage of playing against 9 men. No wait....

    From london_league_promoter, on Thu 5 Nov 8:54PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well done Roma. Good victory.

    Forza ROMA!!!!!!

    From John, on Thu 5 Nov 8:53PM

  18. If you listened closely, you could hear Nero fiddle as­ Roma flopped. What a friggin joke.

    From deathplagueblues, on Thu 5 Nov 8:52PM

  19. I love the biase toward the English clubs on these­ pages. Brilliant.

    From John, on Thu 5 Nov 8:52PM

  20. Roma have been cheating for ever and a day. They conned­ us (Dundee United) out of the European cup final in 84­ when they bribed the ref in the semi.

    From rabidarab, on Thu 5 Nov 8:34PM
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