Ranieri debute win as Mitrovic sinks Southampton
The benefit of having a managerial career lasting 32 years is that Claudio Ranieri had seen and been through enough to transmit a veneer of calm as Fulham scampered through the tense late exchanges of a helter-skelter game knowing the chance of an accident, a scramble, was well within reason. He kept his cool and offered a controlled round of applause at the end of it all.There are only so many miracles one man can reasonably achieve and it spoke volumes that Ranieri’s overall satisfaction was shaded by the realism that defensive improvement remains core to the work ahead. “I saw a lot of things,” he said, knowingly. “We played a good match but conceded too many chances to the opponent. We need to improve tactically.”
As any good Italian man of football should, Ranieri is making Fulham’s goals against column a priority and they are the only club in England’s 92 yet to manage a clean sheet this season. Having said that the “small steps” they showed were encouraging. The positives thrilled the Craven Cottage crowd, who celebrated three fine goals of the sort that brought them to the Premier League with a reputation for aesthetic football, and a show of collective heart to react twice to setbacks during the match.There were some standout performances. Aleksandar Mitrovic was a handful, back among the goals. Ryan Sessegnon excelled in creating chances. Tom Cairney, playing a more advanced No 10 role, was influential. Sergio Rico produced a string of important saves.
Southampton’s hunger to pounce on any Fulham uncertainty gave them the lead. Nathan Redmond chased down the ball and when Maxime Le Marchand only half-cleared, the energetic Stuart Armstrong surged on to steer the ball past Rico.
Fulham needed a spark of inspiration, needed to show they believed in themselves. Sessegnon took the initiative with a dipping long-range shot. Then they took collective responsibility to lift themselves as a team with a sweet passing move, sweeping the ball via seven different players, taking the scenic route to goal. The move took off as the ball zipped from Sessegnon to Cairney to Le Marchand. The Frenchman’s cross landed invitingly for Mitrovic to score by guiding his header into the far corner of the net. Craven Cottage erupted.
Sessegnon’s influence grew, and he demonstrated an excellent mix of technique and efficiency to carve Southampton open and help Fulham to score again. He zipped his way past Cédric Soares and angled a pass for André Schürrle to gobble up the chance with delight.When Michael Oliver blew the half-time whistle it signalled the first time Fulham had led since 1 September. Not that it lasted long. After Mitrovic was denied by Alex McCarthy the next meaningful attack fell to Southampton. Soares tried an intuitive back-heel and Armstrong had time to sprint on to the ball and lash an equaliser past Rico.
With the wind sucked out of their sails, how much character could Fulham muster? The answer was delivered with a sudden gust in the form of another well-worked goal. Cyrus Christie’s floated cross was glanced on by Sessegnon for Mitrovic to wallop the ball past McCarthy.
Southampton rallied. Rico beat away from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and kept out a stoppage-time effort from Michael Obafemi. The loss piled pressure on Mark Hughes, and Southampton’s fans sang about getting sacked in the morning to their own man in the dugout.
Hughes considered his lot and expressed his disappointment that performances were not yielding points. “There is always noise,” he said. “You have to accept that. People get frustrated. It is a bit unfair as sometimes people smell blood. It doesn’t faze me. You just get on with it and do the job to the best of your ability.”
New manager bounce can be wonderful. The evidence, in the shape of Ranieri here, was unmistakable.
“Fantastic character and fighting spirit – I ask just this,” he growled as he went off to digest an important win in the scheme of the big defensive job ahead.
No comments