Man City 1 Fulham 3

MARTIN JOL will not be having any sleepless nights after this one.

Manchester City have to overcome a 3-1 first-leg deficit against the Dutchman’s Hamburg side if they want to reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals on Thursday.

But it is fair to say that dreams of silverware for the first time in 33 years are likely to remain just that for Mark Hughes’ men.

Because, on the evidence of this and their efforts in the Nordbank Arena, Sparky and Co are going out of Europe.

And it does not look like European football will be returning to Eastlands next season either.

Seventh place will get you there but, at the moment, West Ham are in the driving seat.

This was only the Cottagers’ second away league win of the season but, thanks to their home form, they are just a point behind the Hammers.

What a job Roy Hodgson has done. In April last year, he was brought in to save Fulham from the drop and engineered an incredible comeback here.

They were 2-0 down and relegated at half-time but came back to win 3-2 and, in winning their final three games, they stayed up.

Now Hodgson has Fulham riding high, while City’s season is slipping away.

This was their fifth defeat in six games in all competitions.

Just like Thursday in Germany, Stephen Ireland gave them the perfect start — but City ended up losing 3-1.

The defending was awful again, with skipper Richard Dunne and Micah Richards having absolute shockers.

To think keeper Shay Given left Newcastle because of a back four like this.

Boss Hughes must want the season to end now so he can spend more of owner Sheikh Mansour’s millions on shaping his side.

But he has already dished out £100million if you accept he gave the nod for Robinho’s £32.5m signing.

Hughes had only three of his buys in yesterday’s starting line-up and was hit hard by the absences of both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy.

Robinho was left on the bench and as for that waster Elano, the sooner Hughes gets him out the better.

A sub once again, Elano pranced around like a pop diva as he warmed up.

He even kissed a young fan on the head, causing more little ones to queue up in the hope of the same. Who on earth does he think he is?

When he and fellow Brazilian Robinho saw Ireland put City ahead on 28 minutes, they just stood still and clapped.Would you really want this pair in the trenches fighting alongside you?

When Robinho finally came on just past the hour mark, he responded with one weak effort on goal. Pathetic.

It is a shame he and Elano have not got the passion that Ireland displays.

He looked genuinely distraught at the final whistle, burying his face in his shirt as he left the pitch. In contrast, Robinho clapped the fans as he walked off — one person responded.

Yet what a start City had just before the half-hour mark. Ireland ran from inside his own half before curling a shot which, with the aid of a deflection, looped over Mark Schwarzer.

But once again City failed to build on this and, five minutes after the break, Clint Dempsey had the visitors level with the first of his two goals.

When Nedum Onuoha passed to Pablo Zabaleta midway inside City’s half, he failed to control the ball and Bobby Zamora pounced.

Richards tackled him but Dempsey picked up the ball and slid it into the far bottom corner.

And defensive blunders helped Fulham take the lead as Onuoha’s poor clearance bounced of Nigel De Jong.

Fulham’s Dickson Etuhu was on to it and he duly fired into the top corner.

Etuhu was at City between 2000 and 2002 and lined up opposite his brother Kelvin yesterday — but it is fair to say there were contrasting emotions in the family last night!

What a moment for Dickson to enjoy, his first goal for Fulham since moving to Craven Cottage in the summer.

The match was all over on 82 minutes.Dunne jumped in on Zamora, who skipped past him and was away.

He slid a ball through and Richards was scrambling to keep pace with Dempsey, who got there first to shoot through Given’s legs.

Afterwards, Hughes claimed injuries and tired legs were to blame for this.

There is no doubt that was a huge factor but a lack of heart could have had something to do with it as well.

Indeed, only Bolton and West Brom have lost more league games than City this season.

Having said that, Hughes needs to be given time to get this right.

The Welshman has proved he is a good manager and that has not changed despite the reaction of some callers to local radio stations.

Chopping and changing the manager has hardly led to unbridled success at this club over the last three decades.

This time next season will be a better time to judge Hughes’ reign.

He can only hope Sheikh Mansour feels the same out in Abu Dhabi — and a rising tide of opposition can be kept at bay.

By NEIL CUSTIS at Eastlands