Claudio Ranieri is now hoping for a ‘miracle’ in Fulham’s quest for Premier League survival after losing 3-1 to West Ham United on Friday night.
The Cottagers are teetering on the brink of relegation after squandering a 1-0 lead in east London, sitting 19th and eight points from safety with just 11 matches remaining.
Can Fulham perform a ‘miracle’? Five key things to know…
- Ranieri has been at the helm at Fulham since November, replacing Slavisa Jokanovic, but has won just three matches, losing 10.
- The west London club have conceded a staggering 61 goals, more than any other club.
- With the club currently rooted in 19th, survival looks unlikely with 11 matches remaining, but Ranieri is prepared to ‘fight’.
- They face a relegation clash against Southampton on Wednesday, with three points absolutely crucial.
- Ranieri has faith in his players, and believes the likes of Ryan Sessegnon have the mentality to lead Fulham to safety.
Ryan Babel broke the deadlock with just three minutes on the clock, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men soon fought back and exposed Fulham’s extremely leaky defence, scoring three goals to thwart their London rival’s survival campaign.
The odds are firmly stacked against Ranieri and his side but he remains upbeat that a string of positive results can increase the player’s confidence, though he conceded it will take a ‘miracle’ to haul the club out of the league’s nether reaches.
“The level of confidence increases when you win and now that’s a long time ago,” he said. “But they train well and this means they believe.
“It will be a miracle, but we must fight together. If you fight you have one chance, if you don’t you won’t.”
There was also controversy at the London Stadium after Javier Hernandez’s equaliser appeared to ricochet off his arm, and that was made apparent after replays of the goal were shown on the big screens, much to the dismay of Ranieri.
He added: “It was a big pity with the goal, the referee was covered. I hope with the VAR next season it will be better.
“I didn’t see but I watched it on the screen. Maybe also the other players didn’t see it and maybe of the West Ham players only Chicharito (Hernandez) knew the truth.”
Next up for Fulham is the aforementioned must-win match against Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday.
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Ranieri not the only man calling for VAR
On the same night Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock encountered a few issues with the referee of his own after his side capitulated on home turf against Watford, losing 5-1 to Javi Gracia’s men.
Just before half-time winger Josh Murphy was taken out, in what looked like a clear-cut foul upon further inspection on replay, but referee Simon Hooper waved away the protests and kept his whistle by his side.
Naturally this did not go down too well with Warnock, who is now relishing the introduction of VAR next season.
“There will be mistakes but they will get more right with VAR,” said Warnock.
“Referees need help. It is human nature, refereeing is hard. But the quicker VAR comes in… because that would have been solved in 30 seconds.
“Everyone on the pitch knew it was a penalty. It wouldn’t take long to have a look.”
The post Ranieri hoping for ‘miracle’ as Fulham edge closer to relegation appeared first on Squawka News.
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