Fulham earn draw in Sofia

Diomansy Kamara pounced to secure Fulham a creditable 1-1 draw in their Europa League clash with CSKA Sofia at the Vasil Levski National Stadium.

Apart from a worrying spell after the interval that kickstarted a lively second half, Fulham were never overwhelmed and responded superbly to Michel Platini's fine 63rd minute opener.

CSKA were cranking up the pressure only to be caught on the break three minutes later, Erik Nevland finding Kamara who rifled home for his first goal of the season.

Ivan Stoyanov provided one of the few highlights of a dismal first half when he reacted smartly to some careless play by Fulham, linking neatly with Yordan Todorov before firing narrowly wide of the left post.

Jonathan Greening found space down the right, weaving his way into the area where he set up a tricky chance for Simon Davies but the Welshman struck his shot straight at Ivan Karadzhov.

Yordan Todorov blazed wide of the near post as CSKA made an energetic start to the second half.

Slippery footwork from substitute Marcos Marquinhos was concluded with a superb flat ball into the box that CSKA claimed Stephen Kelly handled, but referee Darko Ceferin was not persuaded and Fulham escaped.

Growing increasingly ragged, Marquinhos chested the ball down to Michel Platini who buried the half-volley from the edge of the area for an impressive 63rd-minute strike that the home fans celebrated wildly.

The lead lasted just three minutes, however, as the bounce of Nevland's pass deceived Karadzhov and Kamara was able to skip away from the keeper before finding an empty net.

David Stockdale produced a stunning save to deny Yordan Todorov, showing lightning reflexes to palm the ball over the crossbar.