Diego
Forlán struck with four minutes of extra time remaining as Club
Atlético de Madrid ended a 48-year wait for major continental
silverware, beating Fulham FC 2-1 in the inaugural UEFA Europa League
final.
There had been little to choose between the sides
throughout. Forlán and Simon Davies exchanged first-half goals then, as
fatigue set in, they matched each other for endeavour. Yet as those
around him tired the Uruguayan international gained energy. With the
lottery of a penalty shoot-out looming, he did just enough to divert
Sergio Agüero's cross into the far corner via Brede Hangeland. The wait
was over.
If this was to be the night Fulham introduced
themselves to the big stage after 131 years in the shadows, there were
few obvious signs of nerves. They started confidently, expansively,
passing from the back. That almost proved their undoing on 12 minutes,
as Agüero pounced on a loose Danny Murphy pass just inside the Fulham
half. He fed Forlán with only Mark Schwarzer to beat from the angle but
the striker, in such fine form, fluffed his lines – his low shot across
goal hitting the upright.
Fulham heeded the warning, finding a
more natural rhythm and, midway through the half, a long-range shot
from Davies to warm David de Gea's hands. Agüero was knocking on the
door in more subtle style at the other end, ever a threat cutting in
from the left flank. His contribution to the opener, though, was less
refined. José Antonio Reyes outstripped Dickson Etuhu on the right,
lofting a pass for Simão to direct into Agüero's path. The striker
miscued his effort but it fell perfectly for the lurking Forlán, who
made no mistake this time.
But Fulham have performed so many
Lazarus acts this term that they could reasonably have the feat renamed
in their honour, and within five minutes it was all square. Bobby
Zamora did well to turn inside Luis Perea on the left though the
opening it brought had all but closed when the ball rolled to Zoltán
Gera. The Hungarian international steadied himself and crossed towards
the far post where Davies lashed in.
After surviving more
Atlético pressure as half-time approached, Fulham emerged for the
restart a renewed force. The Spanish side were indebted to the
reactions of De Gea, the goalkeeper wary to the threat of Gera after a
brilliant Murphy pass, then beating away Davies' shot after the ball
dropped fortuitously for the winger. In between Zamora, a major injury
doubt before the game, had made way for Clint Dempsey – it failed to
stem the Fulham tide, though as the game became more and more fractious
Atlético got on an even keel.
Extra time was increasingly
inevitable, a test for any side let alone two who have played over 60
games of the season. Forlán has played the majority for Atlético but
ominously for Fulham he looked fresh – Quique Sánchez Flores's greatest
regret must have been that his No7 was not on the end of his own
surging run and cross on 105 minutes as Eduardo Salvio and Agüero both
failed to capitalise. And then, with penalties approaching he was in
where it mattered; nearly half a century after Atlético beat ACF
Fiorentina to claim their first major European honour, they have a
second.
