Unfashionable Fulham stunned mighty Juventus to reach the Europa League quarterfinals Thursday where it was joined by seasoned campaigner Liverpool. Fulham, 3-1 down from the first leg in Turin, staged a stunning fight-back to clinch a 4-1 victory on the night against nine-man Juventus for a 5-4 aggregate triumph. Roy Hodgson's Premier League side's European adventure looked over when David Trezeguet gave Juventus an early lead at Craven Cottage. But Bobby Zamora's strike gave the host hope and, after Juve's World Cup winning defender Fabio Cannavaro was sent off, Zoltan Gera struck twice to draw Fulham level on aggregate. Juventus, twice European champion, 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. “I'm on top of the world,” said 62-year-old Hodgson. “I don't know if it is the biggest night in the club's history but it must come close.” Fernando Torres struck twice as Liverpool stormed back to overturn a first leg deficit against Lille to book its place in the last eight at Anfield. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Steven Gerrard marked his 300th appearance as captain by leveling the scores on aggregate from the penalty spot. Torres' first goal in European competition this season doubled his side's lead early in the second half before the Spanish striker made it 3-0 in the last minute. The 3-1 aggregate success keeps Liverpool's season alive as Rafael Benitez's stuttering side battle to avoid a fourth successive season without winning silverware. The win also came on the day that Spanish international Albert Riera had described the Merseyside club as a “sinking ship” and claimed that compatriot Benitez did not talk to him. David Villa hit a hat trick as Benitez's former club Valencia drew 4-4 at Werder Bremen that ensured the Spaniards a quarterfinal place on the away-goals rule after the tie finished 5-5 on aggregate. Villa and Juan Mata gave Valencia a 2-0 lead by the 15th minute before Hugo Almeida pulled one back for the hosts. Villa hit his second, and his team's third, on the stroke of half-time only for Bremen captain Torsten Frings to convert a 57th-minute penalty and Marko Marin to hit the Germans' third. However, Villa was on target again in the 65th minute which meant Claudio Pizarro's 84th-minute equaliser was not enough to save Bremen. Benfica won the battle of former Eurpean champions with a 2-1 victory at Marseille for a 3-1 aggregate victory with Alan Kardec hitting a 90th-minute winner on the night to ensure the Portuguese a place in Friday's quarterfinal draw. Belgium's Standard Liege also went through with Dieudonne Mbokani scoring in first-half injury time for a 1-0 win over Panathinakos for a 4-1 aggregate win. Anderlecht was unable to make it two Belgian sides in the last eight despite beating Hamburg 4-3. The German side went through 6-5 on aggregate. Fernando Torres' former team Atletico Madrid also qualified when a 2-2 draw at Sporting Lisbon gave it victory on the away goals rule. German champion Wolfsburg and Russia's Rubin Kazan went into extra time at 1-1 with the two sides level 2-2 on aggregate. Wolfsburg won the match 2-1 to finish 3-2 on aggregate. UEFA bans Ukrainian ref UEFA has banned Ukrainian referee Oleh Orekhov from all football activities for life for helping fix matches. UEFA said Thursday that it used “information from ongoing investigations by German police into match-fixing and corruption” in the case. The European football authority said Orekhov was charged with breaching “principles of loyalty and integrity,” but did not specify which matches were involved. Fraud and organized-crime officers in Bochum, Germany, have been investigating more than 200 matches played in at least 11 countries. Croatian betting syndicates are suspected of bribing players, coaches, referees and other officials to fix games, and are believed to have made at least $13.7 million.
