Chelsea head coach, Enzo Maresca, has praised Super Eagles and Fulham midfielder, Alex Iwobi, alongside his teammates for putting up a fight at the Stamford Bridge yesterday evening, Soccernet.ng reports.
Prior to yesterday’s clash, Fulham hadn’t secured a win at Chelsea’s home ground since 1979, but turned things around with a late double yesterday.
Cole Palmer broke the deadlock in the first half after brilliantly beating three Fulham players just outside the 18-yard box to create enough room for him to place the ball into the bottom corner of Bernd Leno’s goal.
Fulham grew into the game, and kept on piling pressure on the Blues in the second half, notably from the connection of Iwobi and Antonee Robinson down Chelsea’s right-hand side, and the move yielded dividends in the 82nd minute.
The pair combined brilliantly to send a cross to the back post towards Timothy Castagne who then headed back to Harry Wilson to score the equalizer.
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Maresca, speaking after the game, lauded Iwobi and other Fulham players for the ability to quickly transition the game from defence into attack.
“Yeah. It is exactly what I said to them. That we can manage the game better. Cole Palmer said the same. I think we conceded too many transitions in the second half. It is a team with players like Iwobi, Adama, Jimenez. They are very good in transition. And you have to control the game better, but it is a game that we can learn many thing,” the former Leicester Coach said as revealed on FootballR.
Fulham had the last laugh in the closing stages of the game after a brilliant break away saw Rodrigo Muniz score the game’s winner with barely any time left to spare.
While Chelsea lose ground in the title race, Fulham continue to climb up the Premier League table and are currently level on points with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
