Heartache for Fulham, happy ending for Steaua

By Peter Auf der Heyde Dec 14, 2011, 22:48 GMT

Berlin - Premier League side Fulham conceded a goal three minutes into injury time for a 2-2 draw against Odense - a result that saw the London club eliminated from the Europa League on Wednesday.

The draw allowed Wisla Krakow to join Twente Enschede in the next round from Group K.

There was also joy for Steaua Bucharest, Red Bull Salzburg, Lazio Rome and Besiktas, who all won their final group games to grab a place in the next round.

In London, Filipino international goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who was playing his first professional game, could do nothing as late substitute Baye Djiby Fall scored with a header to give Odense BK a 2-2 draw, which allowed Wisla Krakow to snatch second place from the Premier League club.

The Polish club beat Twente Enschede 2-1 to move to nine points and join the Dutch club in the next round.

Steaua Bucharest stayed on track for a home final next year as they secured a 3-1 victory against AEK Larnaca in Group J to move past Maccabi Haifa, who lost 3-0 at home against a second-string Schalke side.

Haifa captain Yaniv Katan saw his second half penalty saved by former Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who was playing his first game for the Bundesliga side.

In Group L Anderlecht secured their sixth win out of six with a 5-3 victory against Lokomotiv Moscow, who had also secured their place in the next round ahead of their final game.

Austrian team Sturm Graz finished bottom of the group after losing 3-1 at home to AEK Athens.

Earlier, Salzburg had to endure some anxious moments in their Group F match at Slovan Bratislava before securing their 3-2 victory, which saw them stay ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, who beat the already-qualified Athletic Bilbao 4-2.

The Austrian team, who offered the fans a free bus ride to Bratislava for the game, came back from two goals down for their victory.

Salzburg coach Ricardo Moniz said he was proud of his players. 'To come from two goals down is not an easy thing to do, but we showed spirit and commitment and as a result I think we deserve to go through.'

Salzburg and PSG both finished on ten points, but the Austrian team advanced on the head-to-head rule.

In Group D Lazio did what was expected from them with a 2-0 victory against Sporting Lisbon, who had already won the group ahead of the match.

The Serie A club, whose goals were scored by Libor Kozak and Giuseppe Sculli, was then helped by Zurich's 2-0 victory against Romanian club FC Vaslui, who would have advanced with a victory in Switzerland.

Besiktas, meanwhile, came from behind in Group E to defeat Stoke and win the group with 12 points from Stoke, who finished on 11.

Stoke coach Tony Pulis said he would not allow the defeat to tarnish the clubs' achievement.

'We are in the final 32 of the Europa League, eighth in the Premier League and have the FA Cup starting up again soon, so we have plenty to look forward to,' he said.

A nine-man Dynamo Kiev, who could have advanced if Besiktas had lost, played to a 3-3 draw against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Leandro Almeida, who scored Kiev's opening goal, was sent off shortly after the restart, while Yevhen Khacheridi received his marching orders in the 56nd minute.