FK Vetra 0 Fulham 3

Bobby Zamora played a key role in Fulham's winning return to European football and then vowed to make his critics eat their words.

The striker scored the first goal, won a penalty converted by Danny Murphy and then laid on Seol Ki-Heyon's late effort as Fulham eased to victory over Lithuanian side FK Vetra in the first leg of a Europa League third qualifying round tie.

Manager Roy Hodgson said: "Bobby was outstanding. It was really good to see him in such good form."

That kind of compliment has been as rare as a Zamora goal following the 28-year-old's move from West Ham in company with defender John Pantsil for a combined fee of £6.3million last July.

Last season, he was the target of fierce criticism after scoring only twice in 35 games but, having rejected a £5m move to Premier League rivals Hull last week, Zamora is determined to make his mark at Craven Cottage.

He said: "It will be nice to prove wrong anybody who doubted me. This season I'm hoping to do that.

"Last year I came in for a bit of stick, for no reason. So I've set targets for myself, to score some goals, and to silence a few people as well."

Zamora admitted the flak had hurt. "It did get to me," he said. "But at the end of the day this is a team game.

"I may not have scored the goals last year but I contributed a lot in terms of build-up play, and I think I had the most assists."

What was clear against a Vetra side that would struggle in our League One is that Zamora and strike partner Andy Johnson have reached a new level of understanding.

Zamora said: "Last year was a learning curve for us as a partnership. You can't just click straight away. But we've managed to work out our strengths and weaknesses, and you can see that in our play. I think it will create a few goals for the pair of us."

It was Murphy, always creative in midfield, who laid on Fulham's 44th-minute opener with a chipped ball into the penalty area which Zamora took in his stride.

Ten minutes into the second half Zamora was hauled down by Algis Jankaukas, and from the penalty spot Murphy fired just inside the left hand upright.

Many among the capacity crowd of 5,900 packed into Vetra's quaint three-sided stadium were already on their way home when Fulham grabbed their third five minutes from time.

Zamora passed neatly from the right for Zoltan Gera to touch the ball into the path of substitute Ki-Heyon, who cooly rounded a defender before placing his shot past the goalkeeper.

The result, which makes next Thursday's return at the Cottage a formality, delighted the travelling fans enjoying their first taste of European football since Hertha Berlin knocked Fulham out of the UEFA Cup in December 2002.

The supporters are now hoping that the presence in defence of Brede Hangeland could diminish Arsenal's interest in the Norwegian as he is now unable to play European football for any other club until January.