With Fulham holding a 2-1 lead heading into Thursday's affair, it was important for the Cottagers to start well. Unfortunately, it was the Ukrainian side that was getting most all of the possession and in turn the shots on goal in the opening 30 minutes. The ball was in the Shakhtar end almost exclusively and it seemed as that it was not a matter of if, but when Orange and Black attack from Ukraine would score the match's opening goal.
That opening goal came.....but it was Fulham that did the scoring. Brede Hangeland headed home a free kick in the 34th minute to give the Cottagers a shocking early lead and a 3-1 aggregate lead in the tie. It was a goal that was completely against the run of play and one in which I did not see coming from a million miles away.
Truth be told, my belief heading into the match was that if Fulham was going to advance they would need to hold Shakhtar scoreless. I never in my wildest dreams thought Fulham would go to the Ukraine and score in Donetsk. Fortunately, I was wrong.
While Fulham held the 3-1 aggregate lead at halftime, Shakhtar continued to pile the pressure on the Cottagers throughout the second half. The Orange and Black won corner after corner only to either take a short corner or do nothing with the longer corner kicks.
It is not as though Shakhtar did not have shots on goal Thursday. It was more a matter of Mark Schwarzer being on top of his game and thwarting almost every single advance on his goal.
Things got even more interesting with 20 minutes to play as Rodrigues Jadson scored for Shakhtar to make it 3-2 Fulham on aggregate. The goal was well deserved and honestly, it was a long time in the making.
After the goal, Shakhtar looked as though they might add another and send the match to extra time. However, the defense hunkered down and Schwarzer continued his masterful play to keep the hosts from scoring another.
In stoppage time things go a bit chippy as Damien Duff was basically punched on the side of the head and thrown down by two Shakhtar players with no whistle from the referee. Then with less than a minute to play, Danny Murphy was given a straight red card for what the referee said to be a trip on Dario Srna in the Fulham end as Murphy was trying to keep the ball in the corner and waste time. That red card means Murphy will mess the next round against either Juventus or Ajax. That is disappointing to say the least as a straight red card was very harsh.
The magical ride of Fulham Football Club continued today. This win over Shakhtar will go down as one of the biggest, if not the biggest win in the club's long history. Few believed this team would get past the group stage of the tourney, let alone knocking out the defending champions. But that is exactly what this team did on Thursday.
Up next in the Europa League will be Ajax or Juventus. While both of those clubs have a lot of history in European competitions and are clearly bigger clubs than Fulham, I do not doubt the Cottager's chances of advancing to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
It is a glorious day for Fulham supporters everywhere. The Danny Murphy red card is disappointing and will play a factor in the next round, but the win overshadows that in what will be a day many Fulham supporters will cherish and remember for a long, long time.
Where does this win rank for you in the club's history? What are Fulham's chances in the next round against Juve or Ajax? What did you think of Fulham's gameplan against Shakhtar? Was the Murphy red card harsh? Let's read what you have to say.
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