Fulham fall flat in Frankfurt

The 2001/02 winners 1. FFC Frankfurt are in pole position to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Cup after ending Fulham LFC's lengthy unbeaten record with a 3-1 victory in the first leg of their quarter-final.

Large crowd
A noisy crowd nearing 4,500 was in attendance at the Stadion am Brentanobad to see five members of Germany's FIFA World Cup-winning team - Nia Küzner, Birgit Prinz, Renate Lingor, Sandra Minnert and Pia Wunderlich - play a non-domestic fixture for the first time since their defeat of Sweden in Los Angeles. The prolific Prinz scored Frankfurt's third goal after Sandra Albertz and Katrine Kleihm had earlier struck, with Rachel McArthur on target for the visitors.

Run ended
Fulham entered the match with confidence high after winning 72 and drawing three of their 75 previous matches. Marianne Spacey would no doubt have instructed her side to keep it tight in the early staged of the match, but the Fulham manager's plans received an early blow when Kleihm opened the scoring after seven minutes. Fulham are nothing if not resilient, though, and within three minutes were on level terms as McArthur volleyed in superbly following neat work from Rachel Yankey and Corinne Yorston.

Prinz caps it
Frankfurt dominated possession from that point on but had to wait until the 58th minute to convert their supremacy into a goal as Albertz struck. Prinz, the player of the tournament and leading scorer in the Women's World Cup, completed the scoring in the 70th minute to give her side a two-goal advantage to defend, or extend, at Woking's Kingfield stadium on 30 November.

'Superior play'
Victorious coach Monika Staab said of Frankfurt's victory: "We knew how hard football is played in the UK. In the Bundesliga, some things would not have been allowed, but referees decide otherwise at international level. My team took up the fight and translated its superior play into goals. This game, which was played before a really excellent crowd, was once more the best advert for women's football."

Spacey 'proud'
Spacey, who was sent off with five minutes remaining, remains confident her side can advance to the last four in what is their first European campaign. "It was a big game to lose the record in," she said. "But in a way it's a burden off our shoulders. I was proud of the players in spite of the result - we battled, we competed throughout and we certainly didn't deserve to lose by a two-goal margin. From what I've seen, I believe we can beat the Germans at our place by enough goals to take us into the semi-finals."