Juve defenders prove too good for Fulham

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 22:04

JUVENTUS took a step toward the Europa League quarter-finals at the expense of Fulham last night with a 3-1 win in the first leg of the last 16 tie in Turin.

Defenders Nicola Legrottaglie and Jonathan Zebina scored in the ninth and 25th minutes to put the Italian team in charge before Dickson Etuhu pulled one back for Fulham in the 36th minute.

David Trezeguet restored Juve's two-goal lead just before half time, giving his side a healthy advantage heading into next week's return leg in London.

Trezeguet had been outspoken before the game about Juventus needing to win a trophy again, having gone three seasons since being stripped of two Serie A championships due to the Italian match-fixing scandal.

Legrottaglie scored with a header following a corner kick, Zebina found the target from the edge of the area after dribbling past two defenders and Trezeguet first hit the post before knocking in his own rebound for the third.

Midfielder Etuhu's shot deflected in off Legrottaglie for a crucial away goal for Fulham.

With Gianluigi Buffon out for a month with a thigh injury, Juve's reserve goalkeeper Alex Manninger made a good save from Brede Hangeland in the 40th minute and then kept out a shot from Bobby Zamora four minutes later.

Clint Dempsey came on as a substitute for Fulham in the 61st minute for his first appearance in almost two months. The United States midfielder has been out of action since sustaining a knee injury in a Premier League match against Blackburn on 17 January but could not inspire Roy Hodgson's men to score a second goal at the Stadio Olimpico.

Diego and Vincenzo Iaquinta had chances for Juve in the final minutes of the second half.

Elsewhere, Ruud van Nistelrooy marked his first start for Hamburg with a goal in a 3-1 victory over Anderlecht. Strikes from Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen and compatriot Van Nistelrooy put the hosts ahead, but Anderlecht hit back with a long-range Jonathan Legear free-kick just before the break.

The Belgian side, who started with 16-year-old Romelu Lukaku up front, went further behind with 15 minutes to go when Hamburg captain David Jarolim volleyed home.

Russian champions Rubin Kazan went ahead through Ecuadorean midfielder Christian Noboa's first-half header, but Wolfsburg levelled with a curling effort from Zvjezdan Misimovic's who also hit the bar either side of his goal in a 1-1 draw.

Sporting held on for a 0-0 draw at Atletico Madrid despite finishing with nine players, and would have grabbed an unlikely victory if striker Liedson's shot had not hit the bar. The Portuguese side lost defender Leandro Grimi to a second yellow card after half an hour and Tonel was shown a straight red before the end.