Horror story for Fulham as Odense usher Euro exit

A GOAL in the very last seconds of stoppage time stunned Fulham and ended their dream of prolonging their Europa League ambitions into the knock-out stages.

The last minute header from sub Djiby Fall – who got in behind Aaron Hughes to nod in a deep cross from right full-back Espen Ruud - felt like a dagger to the heart for Martin Jol's men, who appeared to be strolling into the last 32 at half-time, when they were 2-0 up.

But the Whites flirted with disaster after conceding from a soft free-kick with a little under half an hour to go and the nerves set in.

The Whites began the evening needing victory to guarantee safe passage from their group – anything less would leave them at the mercy of events in Krakow and that is exactly what happened, with Wisla beating Twente to claim the second qualifying place.

It looked as if Fulham could hardly have hand-picked more compliant opponents.

First half goals from Clint Dempsey and Kerim Frei (pictured) – the latter's first for the club – seemed to have rendered the rest of the match a mere formality against a poor looking Danish side who had nothing to play for and already doomed to last place in the group.

But a goal for Odense after Chris Baird had given away a set piece just outside the area shifted the landscape.

Jol is bound to cop some flack for his line-up. They were always going to look less than Premier League, given the absence of Danny Murphy and Mark Schwarzer through injury and Andy Johnson through suspension.

Even so, the Fulham boss fielded a raw line-up, even if Bobby Zamora was restored to the ranks after his strange omission at Swansea at the weekend.

The under-strength nature of the team was probably as much down to the memory of the ease with which the Whites had won the first encounter in Denmark as it was an act of faith in his second stringers, but the gamble back-fired big time.

Nothing in the opening half caused Jol to harbour too many regrets about his choices, with Odense looking vulnerable at the slightest hint of danger.

Their skipper Chris Sorensen hardly led by example, sending a careless pass Baird's way early on and being grateful for a rather shaky parry by keeper Stefan Wessels when the Irishman let fly from outside the area.

Wessels was no more convincing when he flapped at a corner that Brede Hangeland headed goalwards and his fingertip touch would not have kept it out – it needed a hook off the line from Bashkim Kadrii to achieve that.

Then it was Dempsey's turn to have a shot cleared off the line, but it was only delaying the inevitable and, on 28 minutes, Dempsey tucked home from the edge of the area after Zamora had laid back a ball played in from the left by Frei.

Three minutes later and Odense gave the ball away again just outside the area and Moussa Dembele played a simple ball through for Frei to slip between the legs of the shaggy-haired Wessels.

The goal brought the youngster a handshake and a pat on the head from Jol, who he sought out after his first special moment. How irrelevant that will feel now.

It should have been a good night to blood Neil Etheridge in goal – Schwarzer's back injury having got the better of him. But the Aussie stopper's understudy will not look back on this game any more fondly than his shell-shocked team-mates.

He was beaten by a free-kick from Hans Henrik Andreasen on 64 minutes – the wall not properly placed – but dealt well with a low shot from Ruud, who wriggled past Matthew Briggs to send a low angled drive towards the far corner.

There was little he could do about the winner, though, and no time for his team-mates to do anything about it either..

Line-up:Etheridge; Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland, Briggs; Frei, Gecov, Baird, Dempsey (Duff 72); Zamora (Sa 89), Dembele. Subs not used: Somogyi, Riise, Kasami, Senderos, Etuhu. Attendance: 15,757