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Tag: Fulham

  • Why Fulham got relegated from EPL – Lemina

    Why Fulham got relegated from EPL – Lemina

    Mario Lemina stated Fulham got relegated to the Championship because they ‘weren’t good enough’ to stay in the Premier League.

    In the just-concluded season, Scott Parker’s men finished in 18th position having amassed 28 points from 38 outings.

    While stating his teammates gave their best to avoid the drop, the 27-year-old claimed that the Londoners were not good enough to maintain their top-flight status.

    “I don’t think that this Liverpool game changed something in our attitude or anything,” Lemina told the club website.

    “We just tried to play our game like we always play.

    “After Liverpool it just didn’t work like we wanted. Sometimes that’s life and we have to accept it.

    “The only thing I can say is that the whole team didn’t give up, we never gave up, and that’s what we have to remember.

    “Honestly, I still feel pain, because we had a great team to stay in the Premier League, but it didn’t go as we wanted.

    “We’ve been so unlucky, but at the same time, I’m not going to lie, we weren’t good enough to stay in the Premier League this year. But I think in the next seasons, Fulham is going to get better and better.”

  • Havertz hits double to boost Chelsea’s top-four hopes

    Havertz hits double to boost Chelsea’s top-four hopes

    Kai Havertz scored twice to boost Chelsea’s grip on a Champions League place and send Fulham closer to Premier League relegation.

    The German, one of five changes in between the Blues’ Champions League semi-final legs against Real Madrid, latched on to Mason Mount’s through ball to give them an early lead.

    He doubled their advantage when he finished after a one-two with Timo Werner.

    In between those efforts he also had a goal correctly ruled out for offside.

    Fulham had plenty of chances in the first half with Antonee Robinson and Ola Aina forcing good saves from Edouard Mendy.

    But they created nothing of note after the break and now sit nine points off safety with four games to go.

    Chelsea, who just need a goalless home draw against Real on Wednesday to reach the Champions League final, have a six-point cushion over West Ham in the top four.

  • Loftus-Cheek reminds me of Ballack – Tuchel

    Loftus-Cheek reminds me of Ballack – Tuchel

    Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel insists Ruben Loftus-Cheek can have a future at Stamford Bridge.

    Loftus-Cheek is spending this season on loan at Fulham and so will not be able to feature against his parent club at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

    Speaking on Friday, Tuchel said on Loftus-Cheek: “I was quite a fan of him when he was younger.

    “He reminded me of Michael Ballack. There were links with him moving to Germany. We are well aware of his talent. I don’t know why things have not worked out as he wished but now he is doing good.

    “I cannot judge him from TV and hearsay. I love to work with players then to give my opinion.”

  • Mikel Arteta explains rotations for Fulham draw

    Mikel Arteta explains rotations for Fulham draw

    Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta defended his team selection for their 1-1 draw with Fulham.

    Arteta made five changes from the win at Europa League opponents Slavia Prague on Thursday.

    The manager said, “There are different reasons for that. One of them is because some of the players haven’t recovered yet from Thursday night, they have played so many minutes and it was a big risk to play them. Some of them because they deserved an opportunity, but we cannot change 10 players all the time.

    “We took some decisions, like with Laca to play in the game, because he felt good, and he still got injured. It’s always a balance. If you rest them, [you’re asked] why do you rest them? If you don’t, [you’re asked] why do you play them again?”

  • Wijnaldum speaks out after Liverpool loss to Fulham

    Wijnaldum speaks out after Liverpool loss to Fulham

    Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has voiced out on his contract situation after the Reds defeat to Fulham on Sunday.

    Wijnaldum is now into the final few months of his current deal at Anfield, and has yet to extend his stay with the reigning Premier League champions.

    Liverpool suffered a sixth successive home loss at the hands of Fulham and the Dutch international addressed the speculation surrounding his future after the game.

    “If you’re a fan and you support the team – you support the player and what they do with me,” Wijnaldum told beIN Sports.

    “You want to hear what’s going to happen but on the other side, for me, if there’s nothing to say and no news I cannot say something.

    “I hope they can understand that and I hope they will stay patient until there’s news.

    “The most important thing right now is that we fix things in the game as a team and we get results.

    “Talking about an individual, in this case about me and my contract situation – because I just said there’s no news, I think we can focus on better things than on my situation.

    “When there is news, we will bring it out.”

  • Fulham matchwinner: I was scared facing Liverpool

    Fulham matchwinner: I was scared facing Liverpool

    Fulham matchwinner Mario Lemina was delighted to help his teammates to victory at Liverpool.

    Lemina admits the squad is bouncing as they push to get out of the dropzone.

    He said, “We are happy. We are struggling at the moment and it is hard to be at the bottom of the league but we still believe in our quality and we showed in the first half we can play against a big opponent and in the second half we showed good character. It is three good points for us.

    “Honestly I am not going to lie, I was scared because they need to win some games. But I was so confident in my team. We have showed in all the games we have played that we play good football and deserve to be higher in the league.

    “In the last game I missed a big, big chance and I wanted to say I can score. It’s a good goal because we win the game.

    On what has changed, he continued: “I don’t know. We are just working so hard. I think we deserve better than this. We got the luck that we…..sorry I am losing my [train of thought] I am so tired.”

    “It depends on us and the way we play the other games. If we play like that I think we will stay up.”

  • Liverpool suffer another home defeat against Fulham

    Liverpool suffer another home defeat against Fulham

    Mario Lemina condemned troubled Liverpool to a sixth successive home defeat as Fulham earned a shock 1-0 win that left the champions’ top four bid in turmoil on Sunday.

    Jurgen Klopp’s side are four points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, who can extend that lead to seven if they beat Everton on Monday.

    That would leave Liverpool with a tough task to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top four finish.

    They could still make it by winning the Champions League, but glory in Europe’s elite club competition is hard to envisage given Liverpool’s steep decline.

    In a sign of how far they have fallen, even third-bottom Fulham easily out-played Liverpool to secure three points at Anfield for the first time in nine years.

    Without an Anfield victory since before Christmas, Liverpool are a pale shadow of the team that romped to their first English title for 30 years last season.

    They have been destabilised by horrific injury problems in defence, but it was still jarring to see the toothless Reds surrender so tamely once again.

    Klopp insists his stars will remain loyal even if Liverpool miss out on a Champions League place, but on the evidence of their latest embarrassment, the Reds boss might need to make significant changes to catch champions-elect Manchester City next term.

    Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (R) reacts to their defeat on the final whistle in the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Fulham at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 7, 2021. Fulham won the game 1-0.

    With one eye on defending their 2-0 lead in Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg against Leipzig, Klopp made seven changes and fielded a youthful defence featuring Neco Williams, Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.

    The selection of Rhys Williams alongside Phillips meant injury-hit Liverpool were fielding their 19th different starting centre-back partnership in 28 league matches.

    – Impotent Liverpool –

    Unsurprisingly, Liverpool showed a lack of organisation and cohesion at the back, with Josh Maja sneaking behind the two inexperienced central defenders to scoop his volley over the bar.

    Ademola Lookman got behind Neco Williams moments later, cutting into the Liverpool area before dragging his shot wide.

    Fulham were causing Liverpool’s makeshift defence all manner of problems and Maja was narrowly off-target from Lookman’s pass.

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    Ivan Cavaleiro raced onto a long ball and beats Phillips, only to shoot over from a good position.

    Diogo Jota made his first start since December after injury and Xherdan Shaqiri was up front as they replaced Sadio Mane and the injured Roberto Firmino.

    Shaqiri curled a free-kick just over, but Liverpool were impotent in attack and Fulham’s impressive display was rewarded in first half stoppage-time.

    Bereft of confidence and growing more timid by the minute, Liverpool conceded in woeful fashion.

    When Andrew Robertson could only head clear to the edge of the area, Mohamed Salah was easily brushed off the ball by Lemina, who drilled a fine finish into the far corner of Alisson Becker’s goal.

    It was sweet moment for the Gabon international after his accidental handball saw Maja’s equaliser against Tottenham harshly ruled out in midweek.

    Salah’s half-hearted effort was hardly the response Klopp was looking for after the Egyptian showed his frustration when he was substituted against Chelsea on Thursday.

    Jota’s stinging volley from Neco Williams’ cross forced a fine Alphonse Areola save early in the second half.

    Just after that chance, a plane flew over Anfield bearing the slogan “Unity is strength. Let’s go Reds. YNWA”.

    Although Mane came off the bench to loop a header onto the woodwork and Shaqiri went with a curler, Liverpool rarely looked like response to that call to arms.

  • Maja double gives lowly Fulham 2-0 win at Everton

    Maja double gives lowly Fulham 2-0 win at Everton

    Fulham’s Nigerian striker Josh Maja scored his first two goals for the club to secure a 2-0 win at Everton on Sunday.

    This was as the visitors ended a 12-game English Premier League (EPL) run without a win and rekindled their hopes of avoiding relegation.

    The result left Fulham 18th on 18 points from 23 games, seven behind 17th-placed Newcastle United, while Everton stayed seventh on 37 from 22 after another lacklustre home performance.

    Everton’s poor league form continued as they suffered a third home defeat in four games, while Fulham won at Goodison Park for the first time after 22 successive defeats with Maja netting a brace in his first start for the Cottagers.

    The visitors missed a hatful of first-half chances before former Sunderland striker Maja, who is on loan from French side Girondins Bordeaux, slid in to steer home Ola Aina’s fizzing low cross in the 48th minute.

    He made it 2-0 in the 65th with another predator’s finish, popping up in front of goalkeeper Robin Olsen to tap in a rebound from close range after Harrison Reed hit the post with a long-range effort.

    Everton striker Josh King had a goal disallowed for offside in the closing stages which summed up the Toffees’ miserable evening as they failed to create anything meaningful up front.

  • Thiago Silva faces punishment over Fulham jersey toss

    Thiago Silva faces punishment over Fulham jersey toss

    Chelsea manager Frank Lampard wants Mason Mount to score more goals with late runs in the box.

    The 22-year-old pounced on a loose ball inside the box to score the winning goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Fulham.

    And Lampard, a legendary goalscoring midfielder himself, says he has encouraged Mount to work on his goalscoring.

    “It’s a conversation I have a lot with Mason,” Lampard told the club’s website.

    “He can get more goals from midfield. I had him at Derby that year but even then there was a feeling between me and him he could get more. I’m always on him about it because it was obviously something big in my game.

    “As I have alluded to before, my serious goalscoring at Chelsea came in when I was 25, 26. I’m not trying to measure Mason up against myself, but I understand it’s not easy to get so many regular goals.

    “The nous of being involved in general play and getting two or three opportunities for himself will come with development and work.

    “He will score a lot more goals. By the time he’s 24, maturing into the prime of his career, I would like to think Mason Mount will be a player in the highest level in all senses and have at least 10 goals, maybe 15, a season in him. The great thing is I know he knows it and he wants it, so it will happen.”

  • EPL: Mount lifts Chelsea over Fulham

    EPL: Mount lifts Chelsea over Fulham

    Chelsea eased the pressure on Frank Lampard as Mason Mount’s strike 13 minutes from time broke the resistance of 10-man Fulham to earn a 1-0 win in the West London derby on Saturday.

    The Blues were languishing down in 10th at kick-off after a run of one win in six league games left Lampard fighting for his job.

    But the former England midfielder was handed a gift by Antonee Robinson’s reckless challenge just before half-time that earned the American a straight red card.

    Chelsea still struggled to make the extra man advantage count, but Mount’s precise low finish moved the visitors up to seventh and within three points of the top four.

    A first defeat in six games rounded off a disappointing day for Fulham after victories earlier on Saturday for relegation rivals Brighton and West Brom.

    Scott Parker’s men remain third from bottom and are now four points from safety.

    Lampard responded to Chelsea’s poor run by leaving big-money signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz on the bench.

    Olivier Giroud was selected ahead of Werner up front and forced French international teammate Alphonse Areola into a smart save as the visitors started brightly.

    Mount has maintained Lampard’s faith despite a club record fee being splashed out to bring in Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen and the English international was inches away from rewarding his manager with a thunderous shot that came back off the crossbar.

    Fulham were posing a threat themselves on the break and should have gone in front after a brilliant team move.

    Robinson’s low cross was turned back across goal by Kenny Tete, but Ivan Cavaleiro’s mishit shot spooned wide.

    Moments later, Fulham had a mountain to climb when Robinson dived in on Cesar Azpilicueta and was shown a straight red card.

    The hosts were forced to sit deep and doggedly defend wave after wave of Chelsea attack after the break.

    Lampard’s men looked most dangerous from set-pieces, though, as Thiago Silva headed wide a golden chance from a corner.

    In search of a goal, Lampard first turned to Tammy Abraham from the bench and he headed a huge chance straight at Areola with his first touch.

    Christian Pulisic then failed to connect with Hakim Ziyech’s inviting cross seconds later.

    A moment of madness from Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy nearly gifted the Cottagers a shock lead at the other end.

    Mendy diverted Azpilicueta’s backpass as he raced from his goal into the path of Cavaleiro, who should have done better than fire straight into Silva’s chest with an empty net to aim for.

    Werner was finally introduced 17 minutes from time, but it was Lampard’s trusted lieutenant Mount who made the breakthrough as he pounced after Areola flapped at Ben Chilwell’s cross.

    Deep into stoppage time, Werner then wasted a great chance to end his 10-game drought without a Premier League goal as he skewed well wide when one-on-one with Areola.