Fulham 1 - 0 FC Basel

Cottagers edge past Basle

Updated: October 2, 2009, 8:16 AM UK

Fulham halted their three-match losing streak and surged to the summit of their Europa League table with a 1-0 victory over Basle.

• UEFA baffles Hodgson

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 in this game.

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 arrived at Craven Cottage with a fine European pedigree and will be wondering how they failed to finish with a point after Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel missed two sitters.

The result, combined with CSKA's defeat by Roma, means Fulham top Group E.

Unfortunately, however, only 16,100 supporters turned up to watch - well below the 25,678 capacity - and many of those were supplied by Basle's noisy travelling contingent.

Fulham entered the match without a replacement keeper on the bench after they failed to have Pascal Zuberbuhler registered for the match.

Injuries to David Stockdale and their two B-list keepers forced Fulham to seek special dispensation to have Zuberbuhler, a former Basle favourite, included but it was rejected by European football's governing body.

Panic reigned in Fulham's defence early on when Safari easily rounded Stephen Kelly and set up Frei but the Switzerland international's scuffed shot drifted wide.

Moments later Johnson pounced on a mistake by Serkan Sahin, drifted inside with a turn of pace and fired just inches wide of the right post.

Basle had stated before the game they intended leaving Craven Cottage with the second win of their Europa League campaign and their ambition was evident on the pitch.

Fulham were having problems containing their slick passing game and they should have fallen behind when Streller expertly found Huggel only for the veteran midfielder to blaze over from close range.

Murphy sent a free-kick over the cross bar as Fulham began to do a better job of retaining possession.

After their early flurry, the tempo of Basle's game had dropped noticeably and they became less of a threat in the final third.

Keeper Franco Costanzo snatched the ball from Johnson's feet on the stroke of half-time, forcing the Fulham striker to slip, but referee Michael Weiner ignored the ensuing claims for a penalty.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw lots of passing from both sides with little end effect until Clint Dempsey blasted narrowly wide.

But the deadlock was broken in the 57th minute when Kelly released Johnson who sped to the byline before cutting back to the edge of the area where an unmarked Murphy powered home.

Their tails up, Fulham began attacking with greater precision and numbers with one dangerous ball by Bjorn Helge Riise cleared by David Abraham as Jonathan Greening was waiting to pounce.

Johnson was tripped by Safari as he raced into the area and shook his head as Weiner refused to give a penalty.

Streller missed a glorious chance to equalise from seven yards out with eight minutes to go, allowing Fulham to cling onto all three points.

UEFA baffles Hodgson

Roy Hodgson rounded on UEFA after Fulham were forced to play without a replacement goalkeeper.

"UEFA refused our request to replace the injured Stockdale with Zuberbuhler on the basis they didn't think the injury was sufficiently long term,'' he said. "It wouldn't have been so bad if the two 18-year-old keepers we had weren't injured as well. But Mark Schwarzer, who played tonight, and Zuberbuhler are our only fit keepers.

"It's a decision we dispute. We think the game would be denigrated if an outfield player was in goal because your keeper became injured. UEFA want to make the league stronger and more prestigious so I don't understand this decision. We protested and appealed but they stuck firm by their decision.

"With any luck Stockdale will be fit for the next game against Roma but there's no guarantee. If he isn't we could be in the same situation again. In the mean time we must thank our lucky stars Schwarzer wasn't injured and Zoltan Gera didn't have to put the gloves on, which he was looking forward to but I wasn't.''

Danny Murphy's 57th-minute strike nudged the Cottagers to the top of Group E but Fulham could count themselves lucky that Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel missed sitters in each half.

"Basle were good, as any team who can beat Roma 2-0 would be. They have a good pedigree in Europe,'' said Hodgson. "They might not be a name that is very familiar to English fans but they are a very good team and showed that tonight.

"But I was pleased with the way we dug in and stuck to our task. We got some passing going in the second half and that led to our goal. It was a tight game that could have gone either way. We played better against Arsenal on Sunday but this was an important victory.''

Hodgson felt Andy Johnson could have been awarded a penalty in each half.

"We thought we had a stonewall penalty in the first half. I found it hard to believe we weren't given that one,'' he said. "The one in the second half was more debatable as there may have been a slight touch on the ball.''

Basle coach Thorsten Fink admitted his side were punished for losing concentration and criticised their sloppy finishing.

"I'm not satisfied at all with that result. We really wanted to win but basically the problem was we didn't pay enough attention for 10 minutes after half-time,'' he said. "I'm happy with 80 minutes of the performance when we played well. We created opportunities but didn't finish them.''