Fulham will take a narrow lead to Germany for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final following a hard-fought victory over Wolfsburg.
After a drab first half, Bobby Zamora curled in from 20 yards just before the hour to give the home side the lead.
Four minutes later, Zamora turned provider for Damien Duff to smash in a superb second from 12 yards.
Alexander Madlung's late headed goal changed the complexion of the tie ahead of next Thursday's return leg.
It was a late blow that Fulham could have avoided after seemingly being in control courtesy of their two-goal salvo in the space of four second half minutes.
However, Wolfsburg were rewarded for their persistence in the final 10 minutes and will now be confident that they can progress to the semi-finals.
The reigning German champions, may not be having as successful season as last campaign but they remain a potent foe, who came into this match having lost only one of their last 10 matches.
Their strength is built on the formidable attacking duo of Edin Dzeko and Grafite, who overcame injury and illness respectively to start this match, which may partly explain why they were largely anonymous throughout.
The best opportunities the pair had were presented to them by the home side - in particularly an off-colour Brede Hangeland - but these they spurned.
The most notable of these was a headed chance from Dzeko, which took the striker by surprise after Hangeland had completely missed his clearing header.
Fulham have a potent attacking threat of their own in the shape of Bobby Zamora and the big striker once again showed why he is so often mentioned as a potential England striker.
It was he who broke the deadlock in the match in the 59th minute, collecting an infield pass from Zoltan Gera before manoeuvring himself into a shooting position on the edge of the box and curling a superb shot past keeper Diego Benaglio.
Four minutes later he turned provider as the home side doubled their advantage, holding up a pass from Danny Murphy in the box with his back to goal before teeing up Duff to emphatically slam home from 12 yards.
It was a burst of attacking precision that had until then being completely lacking from the home side, who had the best chances of the first half but saw them spurned by Zamora, from a tight angle, and Clint Dempsey, who fired wide just before the break.
That Fulham did not see out the game with their two-goal lead in tact is largely due to their own failings.
They gifted the visitors too much possession in dangerous areas and despite the Germans spurning two chances through tame shooting from Grafite and substitute Obefami Martins their quality eventually shone through.
In the 88th minute, Zvjezdan Misimovic's quickly taken corner was returned to him and his cross was headed home by Madlung to give Wolfsburg more than just hope to take with them back to Germany.
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Fulham traveled to Ukraine without a pressure as their status in domain league is safe. Boss Roy Hodgson doesn’t have too big squad to rotate players and I expect their best eleven from the start. Cottagers are typical home side and have a lots of problems on the road, in Premier League and in Europe as well. In Europa League, they managed just one away win Basel (3-2). Hodgson stated he has no intention of playing for a draw, but attacking formation against Shakhtar on the road could be only a death penalty. I expect their cautious start with not too much risk. Their advantage could be set-pieces and individual efforts of Damien Duff or excellent Bobby Zamora. However, Fulham will be without on-loan defender Nicky Shorey who is ineligible for the match, while full-back Paul Konchesky is still injured. 
Roy Hodgson is doing a very good job at Craven Cottage as Fulham made a run of five consecutive games without a defeat. Two home wins (Hull City 2-0 and Liverpool 3-1) and three draws on the road (West Ham United 2-2, Man.City 2-2 (returned from 0-2) and Wigan Athletic 1-1). The biggest problem for Hodgson is “short bench” as he hasn’t enough number of players to play in three competitions. And some key players have been involved in international games. Key winger, Damien Duff, suffered a disaster in France and the question is how much he can focus on Birmingham. Two games also played Pantsil, Dikgacoi and Stephen Kelly. Skipper Danny Murphy and striker Andrew Johnson will be back in training process next week, while excellent striker Diomansy Kamara will also miss the game. American midfielder Clint Dempsey has been playing in excellent shape, scoring three times in last three games. However, I see Fulham as an average Premier League side and current 11th place as the best possible achievement this season.
