Fulham boss Roy Hodgson claimed his side made Wolfsburg looked "reasonably ordinary'' after the the west Londoners won their Europa League quarter-final first leg tie 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
The hosts dominated for long periods and were rewarded with two goals in a four-minute spell in the second half.
Bobby Zamora expertly fired home the first from outside the area after 59 minutes before setting up Damien Duff for the second.
And while German champions Wolfsburg grabbed an away goal two minutes from the end, when Alexander Madlung headed in from a worked corner, Hodgson was full of praise for his side.
"Wolfsburg are a good team, they are champions of Germany. They have many good players, but tonight I thought we made them look reasonably ordinary,'' he s.
"We were certainly good value for our 2-0 lead, but of course a little bit of nervousness creeps in. A 2-0 lead is a little bit of a dangerous one, and we stopped playing a little the way we had been and let them into the game that little bit more.
"Unfortunately it led to a corner and their goal. But we have got to be happy that the European adventure continues at Craven Cottage and we have claimed another notable scalp.''
Duff described the concession as the late goal as "sloppy'', with Madlung unmarked six yards out to score, but believes the Cottagers can book a place in the semi-final in the second leg next Thursday.
"After the second goal we took our foot off the pedal and got a bit sloppy,'' the Republic of Ireland international said.
"They nicked the away goal which can be crucial, but we always back ourselves to score a goal over there. It's not a bad result and we can look forward to next Thursday.''
Hodgson added later in the press conference: "I don't know if we are favourites; we relinquished the chance to be favourites at 2-1. We go there with the lead and we need a draw or a victory. And we did enough to show we can cause them plenty of problems when we attack.
"I thought we played very well and were close, at the end of the game, to a famous 2-0 victory.
"The late goal, I suppose to some extent, has put a slight dampener on the performance but it shouldn't really because if before you offered me a victory in the game and to play well I would have accepted any score so I am not going to allow a last minute goal to dampen my enthusiasm for the game, and my belief in the players and the desire to work hard and deny the German champions.''
Hodgson admits that Zamora has significantly improved his game since last season, when he found the net only four times.
"The thing with Bobby now is that he is not just scoring goals against anyone, he is doing it against international class opponents,'' said Hodgson.
"Wolfsburg were worthy champions last year and after a dodgy start they have lost once in eight after knocking Villarreal out of the Europa League.
"Before that they'd gone seven unbeaten they are on a very good run and for Bobby to play well in the Europa League against teams of the character of Roma, Juventus, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk and now Wolfsburg, it would be unfair for people to say he only does it in the Premier League.''