Hertha Berlin 2 Fulham 1
Hertha Berlin will take a slim lead into the second leg of their UEFA Cup clash against Fulham in two weeks' time after beating the Londoners in the third round tie in Berlin tonight.
The Cottagers will take heart from a battling performance and a valuable away goal achieved in a sparsely populated Olympic Stadium in the German capital.
Hertha took the lead just before the half-hour mark when Stefan Beinlich met a Marcelinho corner at the near post to head past the diving Edwin van der Sar.
With 10 minutes of a dull half remaining, Fulham's Steed Malbranque produced a neat turn to shoot and produce a neat save from keeper Gabor Kiraly.
Fulham equalised eight minutes into the second half when Martin Djetou met Malbranque's cross with a header which hit the post. French international Steve Marlet reacted fastest and nodded the rebound in from close range.
Minutes later Fulham almost took the lead through an unmarked Djetou but Hungarian international Kiraly made a fine save to deny him.
With the Fulham defence napping, Peinlich headed over the bar with half an hour remaining.
But Hertha scored the winning goal when Fulham's Argentinian striker Facundo Sava sliced a curling free kick into his own net, giving van der Sar no chance in the 68th minute.
The Dutch keeper had to save sharply from Marcelinho's ingenious volley from the tighest of angles with quarter of an hour remaining but Fulham hung on gamely.