Fulham rallies to beat Hamburg 2-1 and reach Europa League final

Fulham reach Europa League final

LONDON — Fulham reached a European final for the first time, rallying on second-half goals by Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera to beat Hamburg 2-1 Thursday night in the Europa League.

Fulham and Hamburg tied 0-0 in the first leg at Germany last week, and Hamburg went ahead on Mladen Petric’s dipping free kick in the 22nd minute. Fulham got goals from Davies in the 69th and Gera in the 76th to win on 2-1 aggregate and gain a chance for the first major trophy in its 131-year history.

American midfielder Clint Dempsey entered as a 57th-minute substitute for the Cottagers, who will play Atletico Madrid in the final on May 12 — which Hamburg is hosting. Dempsey could become the first American to appear in a European soccer final.

Atletico Madrid advanced to the final with a 2-1 loss at Liverpool that left the aggregate tied 2-2 and put the Spanish team ahead on 1-0 away goals.

The Cottagers, who play along the banks of the Thames, have long been overshadowed in London by Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham. But they beat defending UEFA Cup champion Shakhtar Donetsk, Italian power Juventus and German champion Wolfsburg en route to the final.

Hamburg was playing its first game under interim coach Ricardo Moniz, who took over Monday after Bruno Labbadia was fired.

Dempsey, whose 82nd-minute goal on a flick eliminated Juventus in the third round, replaced Bobby Zamora, who has been bothered by an Achilles’ tendon problem.