Europa League: A Draw Between Valencia and Atletico Plus Game-One Home Wins For Benfica, Hamburg, and Fulham As Quarterfinal Round Begins

Four contests took place on Thursday as the two-match sets in the quarterfinal round of the Europa League commenced.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Not one, but two, successful penalty kicks from Oscar Rene Cardozo (59', 79') enabled SL Benfica to take game one of their two-game series 2-1 at home against Liverpool.  The Reds, who are still very much alive in this two-match set, got their goal at 9 minutes from Daniel Agger.


At London:

Bobby Zamora (59') and Damien Duff (63') each scored a goal in the second half as Fulham held off visiting VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 in game one.  The visitors did get what might still be a precious road goal from Alexander Madlung at 89 minutes.


At Hamburg, Germany:

Hamburg, with goals from Mladen Petric (PK-43') and Ruud van Nistelrooy (45'), took game one at home 2-1 over Standard Liege.  The Belgian club stayed in the two-match series, thanks to Deiudonne Mbokani at 30 minutes.

At Valencia, Spain:

In a battle of Spanish clubs, Atletico Madrid gained a 2-2 road draw with Valencia.  The visiting Madressmakers got their two goals from Diego Forlan (59') and Antonio Lopez (77') while the homestanding Murcielagos got their tallies courtesy of Manuel Fernandez (67') and David Villa (82').