Zamora fires Fulham into Europa League last 32

Fulham marched into the Europa League last 32 after Bobby Zamora’s double inspired the Premier League side to a 3-2 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.

Fulham shrugged off the falling snow to record a memorable victory over the Swiss and become the third English club to make it into the knockout stages, the Londoners joining Everton and Champions League refugees Liverpool.

They had travelled to Switzerland one point behind Basel in third, with AS Roma already having secured top place, in Group E.

And with Zamora once again silencing those critics who had begun to question his scoring record, Fulham did the business in style to finish the first round on ten points, one behind the Italians, who beat CSKA Sofia 3-0 in Bulgaria.

Zamora had a goal disallowed for offside after 16 minutes but three minutes from the break he had Fulham in front when he steered home Bjorn Helge Riise’s cross with his left foot.

Two minutes later Riise acted as provider again with Zamora this time finishing with his head for his fourth goal in three games.

Basel were back in the game after the hour mark when Alexander Frei’s spotkick, awarded for Chris Smalling’s handball, beat Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

On 77 minutes Zoltan Gera settled Fulham manager Roy Hodgson’s nerves, sidefooting the ball in from Stephen Kelly’s pullback.

Marco Streller’s header from a corner into the far post three minutes from time stirred the home fans but Fulham held on to keep their European adventure firmly alive.

In Group D, the German first division’s bottom side Hertha Berlin qualified as runners-up with a 1-0 win over table-toppers Sporting Lisbon.

Group F’s final round of matches saw Greek side Panathinaikos join already qualified Galatasaray in the next round after grabbing second place with a 3-0 victory over Dinamo Bucharest.

Two other teams can clinch their qualification in Wednesday’s later action, ahead of Thursday’s final batch of group games.