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Roy Hodgson hailed the greatest result in Fulham's history as the unheralded English club staged a stunning fightback to knock Italian giants Juventus out of the Europa League.

Hodgson's side went into the last 16 second leg clash as heavy underdogs after losing 3-1 in Turin last week and their European adventure looked almost over when David Trezeguet gave Juve an early lead at Craven Cottage.

But Bobby Zamora's strike gave the hosts hope and, after Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro was sent off, Zoltan Gera struck twice to draw Fulham level on aggregate.

Juventus, twice European champions, gave a dismal display and American forward Clint Dempsey came off the bench to score a superb late winner before Jonathan Zebina was dismissed for kicking Damien Duff.

Fulham's 4-1 win sealed a 5-4 aggregate triumph which booked a place in the quarter-finals - a previously unimaginable prospect for a club more often concerned with fighting to stay in the Premier League than mixing it with Europe's big-guns - and Hodgson admitted it was a remarkable moment.

"I would think it must come close to being our best result," he said. "I'm on top of the world. The atmosphere was electric from the first minute even though we couldn't have had a worse start.

"I've seen lot of good performances from this team in the time I have been here and they have constantly surprised me. But to beat a very good Juventus 4-1 is a great achievement and the boys deserve all the praise they get.

"It's like (former boxer) Rocky Marciano said; I should retire while the going is good because it's not going to get a lot better."

Hodgson insisted he never panicked even when Trezeguet gave Fulham a mountain to climb with his early strike.

"It was a simple goal to concede and gave us an even more uphill task. But even from that the team started to play and we were able to put it behind us," he said.

"At half-time I thought we were looking good to win the game and that is what happened.

"To reach a quarter-final in this competition is extremely good because we played our first match at the end of July. That's a nine-month campaign.

"When I reached the UEFA Cup final with Inter in 1997 it was nowhere near as long as that. It is a remarkable achievement."

Key to Fulham's success was another impressive display from Zamora, who will find his name linked with Fabio Capello's England squad after taking his goal tally for the season to 16.

Juve coach Alberto Zaccheroni claimed Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers played a key role in the defeat with his decision to dismiss Cannavaro.

"I have seen the footage on TV and I think the referee has been a bit too strict. The sending off played a part in the final result," he said.

"With eleven against eleven I don't expect Juve to be eliminated but I don't want to dwell on that. Fulham took advantage of the situation.

"I don't want to talk about the referee. I want to look at the mistakes we made. Also we had to make too many changes in the team due to injuries."

While Cannavaro's red card was a significant moment, even Zaccheroni had to concede that Fulham's excellence and Juve's woeful effort meant he could have no complaints with the result.

"I'm really sorry and very disappointed to be out of the tournament," he said.

"We feared Fulham and their intensity but we prepared for what we thought could be their weaknesses. We did well until we went one man down and from that point we struggled."

AFP