Hamburg edges past Standard

Published Apr. 1, 2010 10:17 p.m. ET

foxsports

Hamburg took another step towards reaching the Europa League final in its home stadium by beating Standard Liege 2-1 in the first leg of their quarterfinal Thursday.

Standard went ahead after 31 minutes when Dieudonne Mbokani headed home a corner.

Mladen Petric equalized 11 minutes later, converting from the penalty spot after Marcos Camozzato had fouled Jonathan Pitroipa.

The German side took the lead for the first time just before interval when Ruud van Nistelrooy struck from 10 yards, nine minutes after he had struck the right-hand post.

Mbokani hit the crossbar with a header in the 65th minute with the best chance of the second half.

The return leg will be played next Thursday in Belgium.