Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi scored the decisive goal as Fulham secured their first Premier League victory of the season with a 1-0 win over Hull City at Craven Cottage on Saturday, Footynaija.com reports.
The Cottagers went into the encounter rooted to the bottom of the table after collecting just two points from their opening six matches, leaving manager Alvaro Arbeloa under pressure to turn their fortunes around.
Iwobi provided the breakthrough in the 33rd minute, with his effort taking a deflection off Hull defender John Egan before finding the net. The Nigerian’s strike proved enough to secure three valuable points and end Fulham’s winless start to the campaign.
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The result lifted Fulham from 20th to 16th place, taking their tally to five points after seven league matches and moving them out of the relegation zone.
Arbeloa was happy to see his team finally turn their performances into a victory, insisting that Fulham had deserved better results in previous matches.
“I am very happy, especially for the supporters, they deserve this win, for the players, they were looking for this victory and have been working so hard. We deserved it in other matches, but we couldn’t get it; today was finally the day,” the Fulham boss said.
“We were having the same feeling as other matches, when we were controlling the game for long spells and having good chances but didn’t score. Usually, our rivals punish our mistakes or take their chances, but today we were brilliant for 90 minutes.”
Fulham dominated possession and registered 13 shots against Hull’s four, but their afternoon ended with a late setback when Ryan Sessegnon received a straight red card in stoppage time.
Despite that dismissal, Iwobi’s goal had already done the damage, giving Fulham a much-needed result as they look to build momentum and put their difficult opening run behind them.
The Cottagers will now aim to carry that confidence into their next league fixture as they look to turn their first win of the campaign into a more consistent run of results.
