2 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Alteration above under Pedro and forgot to add our fans were in fine voice, shame about the home fans though they are in a sticky situation.

tbf I thought both fans were brilliant - IMHO it was a good SW6 derby atmosphere

Great result. Actually a great day. Liverpool slip up and we avoid a potential banana peel. 

55 minutes ago, Juan Nil said:

Arse v Manure next week so this was a vital 3 points and this is the time when every game is a slog to get the 3 points.

Keep your chins up and KTBFFH!!!

 

We've got a tough match against Wolves too but if we hold our nerve we could easily be back in the top 4 this time next week

45 minutes ago, robdog said:

tbf I thought both fans were brilliant - IMHO it was a good SW6 derby atmosphere

I never heard them! Did they sing much? We were top voice and could not even hear those horrendous clappers.

1 hour ago, Juan Nil said:

A great result to keep up our hopes of a champions league spot!

This was never going to be as easy as some fans were expecting. Performance could have been alot better but Fulham were fighting for their lives and you have to give them credit for the way they played.

Higuain has 3 in 5 now in the league

Jorginho scored a great winning goal in a derby hopefully that can help him win over a few fans.

Arse v Manure next week so this was a vital 3 points and this is the time when every game is a slog to get the 3 points.

Keep your chins up and KTBFFH!!!

 

To be honest, when he scored we all sang his name, and we gave him another round when he was subbed. 

Edited March 3, 20197 yr by RMH

We won, we move on!

23 minutes ago, RMH said:

I never heard them! Did they sing much? We were top voice and could not even hear those horrendous clappers.

To be honest, when he scored we all sang his name, and we gave him another round when he was subbed. 

I heard that on the stream and saw he looked up and clapped the fans. 

Decent first half, pretty poor second. 

 

First off a good result, we needed it. Not a good performance in my opinion, some luck helped us get this result. Babel sleeping for the open goal, the correct but boarderline offside call that could have gone against us (see the many offside goals of Kane and liverpool).

Having not read the thread I imagine higuain got some flack for his 2 misses, the save by Rico was top class otherwise he would have had a class double.

Hazard was poor, each shot was weak, final ball missed its mark, should have scored at least one.

Willian offered no threat. Against the record breaking worst defence in the league we could and should have had at least 4.

Luckily our defense held out, just about.

Jorginho much derided by a fans was good, could have had a few assists, scored a class winner.

Kepa bar his one drop he got away with was good. 

 

Result we needed but a poor performance.

Obviously result more important than the style.

In this game I felt Kante looked tired

I'd definitely have brought on CHO and RLC much earlier, probably I'd have started them.

Higuain has played better and not scored and his partnership with Willian looked better than with Hazard.

Like a number of games this season the system only works when it is 100%. A sure sign we are getting in trouble is when Rudigier is sitting on the ball and then passing back. 

On paper Kiev don't look that strong so hopefully we can go through a better patch.

For some reason this entertaining derby was relegated to third on match of the day tonight, even below mighty Watford v Leicester...suspect it might have been different had Fulham won..sameold, same old.

anyway happy for Jorginho to get the winner. Perhaps those with a blind hatred of him might give him a break.

we saw the best and worst of chelsea again..Nice football at times but too easy to create chances against..still, were right back in top four race and we'd have taken this position after that day at city a few weeks ago

8 hours ago, Teebah78 said:

Not really. And it was a great game to watch too.

For the neutral. I was sh*tting myself. Heart was pounding that whole second half. We made life so difficult for ourselves.

A scratchy but very welcome win. The stark reality is that our away form has been diabolical of late, (we haven't won in the Premier League since beating Palace at the end of December) so this game, against our nearest opponents with a new coach who used to be one of our own, plus our congested fixture list, was never going to be a walk in the park. We were hanging on by our finger tips at the end, with some players physically and mentally shattered at the final whistle.

This win was important.

Aren't they all at the moment...

We scored two good goals and lost a very, very poor one.

Good saves by Kepa.

Thought Christensen gave a good performance at the back

We could and probably should have been further ahead by the break.

However credit to the Fulham keeper for a couple of very good saves.

The points were more important than the performance. The energy levels were understandably lower after the Spurs game but we held on. We haven't always done that this season and Kepa played a large part in that. Maybe the disciplinary action enthused him. We dominated large parts of the game without being overwhelming and Fulham definitely played their part in an entertaining match.

I don't understand the stick that Willian gets from some of the fans. I thought he played well with some good linkup play and runs. You could see the pressure he was putting on the Fulham players was hurting them. His energy was pretty good too. Its very demoralising for the opposition when somebody keeps running past you with the ball.

I don't think you can knock the team after an away win following two very difficult and tiring games. The effort the team put in against Spurs just a few days earlier was exceptional and must have taken it's toll on most of the squad. And this where I think Sarri can afford to be braver in his decision making. Its nearing the end of the season and a few players on Sunday were starting to look a bit leggy. It may sound like sacrilege but why not give Hazard a rest and start CHO against Kiev? He could mitigate the risk by putting Hazard on the bench. I just feel that CHO scares other teams. He is very quick off the mark and offers something new. We are very fortunate to have a player with his pace and ability and we should be using him more. I certainly think he gets the crowd going at the home games and this counts for something. I don't want wholesale changes but I think RLC can also be played a bit more. This is a guy who made an impact at the world cup. His strength on the ball is impressive when he powers through into attacking positions. These two are fantastic options when you consider the number of games Hazard, Pedro, Willian have played. I'm not completely convinced that the Kovacic, Barkley thing is impenetrable either. Kovacic does have ability and although he glides around the pitch well he sometimes glides off the ball and appears to be a bit lightweight. If he is to cut the mustard in the PL he needs to toughen up a bit. Barkley is OK but he should score more. I think RLC is more likely to score and stronger on the ball than either Kovacic or Barkley. With Jorghino and Kante in all honesty lacking goals,  we need our other midfielders to score. Neither Barkley or Kovacic help out enough in this regard and long term we can't just rely upon Hazard and Higuaín for the goals.

I'm going to remain positive on the top 4 possibility but I feel Sarri playing safe may cost us. Would he really get that much stick if he brought the youth through a bit more.

COYB!

7 minutes ago, Andy North said:

The points were more important than the performance. The energy levels were understandably lower after the Spurs game but we held on. We haven't always done that this season and Kepa played a large part in that. Maybe the disciplinary action enthused him. We dominated large parts of the game without being overwhelming and Fulham definitely played their part in an entertaining match.

I don't understand the stick that Willian gets from some of the fans. I thought he played well with some good linkup play and runs. You could see the pressure he was putting on the Fulham players was hurting them. His energy was pretty good too. Its very demoralising for the opposition when somebody keeps running past you with the ball.

I don't think you can knock the team after an away win following two very difficult and tiring games. The effort the team put in against Spurs just a few days earlier was exceptional and must have taken it's toll on most of the squad. And this where I think Sarri can afford to be braver in his decision making. Its nearing the end of the season and a few players on Sunday were starting to look a bit leggy. It may sound like sacrilege but why not give Hazard a rest and start CHO against Kiev? He could mitigate the risk by putting Hazard on the bench. I just feel that CHO scares other teams. He is very quick off the mark and offers something new. We are very fortunate to have a player with his pace and ability and we should be using him more. I certainly think he gets the crowd going at the home games and this counts for something. I don't want wholesale changes but I think RLC can also be played a bit more. This is a guy who made an impact at the world cup. His strength on the ball is impressive when he powers through into attacking positions. These two are fantastic options when you consider the number of games Hazard, Pedro, Willian have played. I'm not completely convinced that the Kovacic, Barkley thing is impenetrable either. Kovacic does have ability and although he glides around the pitch well he sometimes glides off the ball and appears to be a bit lightweight. If he is to cut the mustard in the PL he needs to toughen up a bit. Barkley is OK but he should score more. I think RLC is more likely to score and stronger on the ball than either Kovacic or Barkley. With Jorghino and Kante in all honesty lacking goals,  we need our other midfielders to score. Neither Barkley or Kovacic help out enough in this regard and long term we can't just rely upon Hazard and Higuaín for the goals.

I'm going to remain positive on the top 4 possibility but I feel Sarri playing safe may cost us. Would he really get that much stick if he brought the youth through a bit more.

COYB!

Agree with you on Willian think he is playing well.

I thought by playing Barkley from the start Sarri was being more adventurous, all be it the one token shot Barkley seems to produce.

I felt yesterday Barkley at times looked like the regista and this freed Jorginho more to thread those vertical passes to Higuaín which today produced nothing yet might have. Not sure if this was intentional or just how the play adapted.

Sarri by bringing in Christensen was also doing well in using the wider squad.

Agree CHO could be used in the Europa, feel we will need to be at our best to beat a clever counter-attacking side in Wolves.