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Fulham finally land first triumph despite Sessegnon red card
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- Fulham finally land first triumph despite Sessegnon red card
(IMAGO)
Fulham finally got themselves off the mark in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Hull City at Craven Cottage.
After a week of intense pressure on Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham were able to regroup and deliver that all-important performance to earn the three points.
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Alex Iwobi scored for Fulham in the first half to put the Cottagers into the lead.
That is nothing new, though. Fulham have been there before.
Arbeloa's men were 1-0 up against both Manchester United and Ipswich in the 88th minute
They ended up picking up just one point from those two matches.
And today the Cottagers fell down to 10 men in stoppage time when Ryan Sessegnon, who replaced the injured Josh King, was sent off for a poor challenge on Robinio Vaz.
That brought back some painful memories for Fulham fans, who had seen their side drop five points in their previous two matches.
This time though, luck was finally on their side and the Cottagers were able to hold on.
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Relief for Arbeloa, who has been under so much pressure this week that there have even been rumours circulating about who would replace him.
He can now go into this week with some confidence; Coventry away next weekend is another target match for three valuable points.
Win that match, and there will be no more links to his replacements.
It was a performance of complete dominance from start to finish.
Iwobi had his first sight on goal after just three minutes and came remarkably close to breaking the deadlock, with his effort deflected over the bar.
Half an hour later and the ball was in the back of the net, with a poor clearance finding itself at the feet of Sander Berge.
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The Norwegian then laid Iwobi off and the Nigerian slotted the ball through Konstantinos Tzolakis in the Hull net.
The Greek keeper will feel he should have done better, letting the ball slip through his hands at the near post.
Six minutes later, his Nigerian teammate Calvin Bassey will feel he should have headed it in, narrowly putting the ball over the bar.
Josh King came close three minutes later, with a good save from Tzolakis denying him and the midfielder should have scored in the second half, hitting his effort directly at Tzolakis.
Iwobi then had a massive opportunity himself, burying his face in the turf after hitting it straight at Tzolakis.
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Chances kept coming for Fulham to put the game to bed, with Gonzalo Garcia hitting the crossbar 15 minutes from time.
Hull themselves had just 24% and zero big chances; it was a routine and comfortable afternoon for Fulham.
That was until the dying embers when Sessegnon was sent off for a nasty challenge on Vaz, grazing down his Achilles, forcing the 19-year-old Frenchman off the field.
In the end, Fulham were able to hold on this time and climb up to 16th in the table, although many of their rivals down the bottom end of the table are yet to play.
