Even before the pre-season friendlies swing open their doors of summer distraction, competitive action is underway throughout Europe. Deep in the dark confines of the first qualifying round of the Europa League, those teams who finished fourth in the Belarusian Premier League kicked off against their Azerbaijani equivalents. Fulham also joined the party.
By virtue of topping the Fair Play rankings, the Cottagers got to enter the European ladder at the very bottom rung, thus giving Martin Jol little time to get to grips with his new surroundings. The Dutchman and the Craven Cottage faithful enjoyed a comfortable ride however – last night brought a first round first leg 3-0 victory over NSI Runavik – the third best team in the Faroe Islands…
Surprisingly Jol decided against resting his senior players for the opening tie. Despite the absence of Clint Dempsey and Carlos Salcido following their recent Gold Cup final exertions, Fulham fielded what was arguably their strongest starting XI.
Dempsey’s goals weren’t missed.Damien Duff and Simon Davies took up the mantle on the Fulham flanks and combined to conjure the opening goal on the half-hour mark. The home side then continued to pepper the Runavik goal but it took another half an hour before they added to Duff’s goal. Simon Davies earned a second assist on the night after he was felled in the box – Danny Murphy assumed spot-kick duties from Zamora to stroke home from 12-yards. Andy Johnson then provided Jol with a reminder of his talents, slotting the third from Zamora’s tee-up.
The Pre-season Guide
Our form guide for 2011 has been updated with the results and details of last night’s match. We’ve collated all the pre-season fixtures that lie in wait for all 20 Premier League sides. It’s not a complete picture as yet – Swansea are still sorting matters following their Play-off promotion, while Wigan seem to keeping their cards ever so close to their chest, at least for now.
Fulham have their second leg to follow in a week’s time before West Brom start their American tour on 12th July. A day after that one could argue Pre-Season officially kicks into gear with four teams (Arsenal, Liverpool, United and Sunderland) starting their preparatory campaigns.
You can rely on our guide to bring you all the latest results, scorers and notes on the current preferred lineups as we look ahead to the new season and another campaign of Fantasy Football takes flight.
