Zoltan Gera added to his tally of crucial European goals for Fulham on Thursday when he struck after just two minutes of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 First Leg against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Hungarian schemer arguably bagged two of the most important strikes of the Whites’ European campaign when he headed in the only goal in the home win over CSKA Sofia, and then slotted home the important third that gave Fulham a two-goal cushion in the crunch group finale in Basel.
And on Thursday night he wasted no time in making it three in a row in European matches.
“I have been lucky, I have lots of good balls from my team-mates.” he said modestly after the game. “I love to play in Europe. I love to play against teams from other countries and the test that presents.”
However, it was anything but plain-sailing for Fulham on the night for, having gone one-nil up early on, Shakhtar fought back with a vengeance, dictating play for much of the first period, and equalising before half-time. Gera and his fellow forward players were forced to play a waiting game as they defended as a team in hope of a break.
“After the early goal, we didn’t get a lot of the ball,” he admitted. “Shakhtar Donetsk proved themselves to be a very, very good team with lots of skilful players who were confident with the ball and they put us under a lot of pressure. But in the second-half we started very well and it was much better for us.”
Fortunately, the interval worked in Fulham’s favour, breaking the visitors’ momentum and allowing Roy Hodgson’s side to get a foothold, and eventually impose themselves once more.
“The gaffer told us at half-time to keep doing exactly the same,” he explained. “To keep our shape and be patient, because if we go out of our positions Shakhtar are good enough to punish us. So we stuck to our plan and the result was a much better second-half performance.”
Indeed, it was the Whites that started the second period much the brighter, and Gera was involved in another defining moment after the hour as he deftly flicked the ball through for Bobby Zamora to unleash a rocket of a second goal.
“Bobby is playing with full confidence,” enthused Zolly. “He’s very strong and very quick and good with both feet. He’s proving very good for us and hopefully he will keep this form going for the rest of the season and beyond. We’re very happy with Bobby because he’s proving himself to be one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
However, whilst Fulham fans will be celebrating another memorable European win tonight, Gera is keen to warn caution ahead of next week’s second leg in Ukraine, as at 2-1, the tie is far from over.
“This isn’t really a great result, because they scored a goal and away goals are very, very important. Now if they score just one at home we are out, so they are in a good position.
“But we never go out for a game just wanting to avoid defeat, we want to win every game. It will be difficult, but we will go out and play the same as today and see what happens.”