Fulham fall to defeat at Saints

Fulham fans protested against manager Claudio Ranieri during a 2-0 defeat at Southampton which pushed them closer to Premier League relegation.

Ranieri faced chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ at St Mary’s, while a banner containing the words: ‘Risk free? Are you watching Tony Khan?’ was unfurled in reference to comments made by the club’s vice-chairman following the Italian’s appointment in November.

First-half goals from Oriol Romeu and James WardProwse, which lifted Saints out of the bottom three, leaves the Cottagers an alarming 10 points from safety with as many games remaining.

Ranieri has failed to spark an upturn in results since replacing the sacked Slavisa Jokanovic at Craven Cottage and his side’s position is precarious after a seventh defeat from eight top-flight fixtures.

Maurizio Sarri’s position as Chelsea head coach was strengthened by a 2-0 win which featured a Willy Caballero clean sheet and a Tottenham defensive howler.

Under-fire Sarri belatedly exerted his authority by dropping Kepa Arrizabalaga for his refusal to be substituted in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final penalty shootout loss to Manchester City.

The world’s most expensive goalkeeper was replaced by Caballero as Pedro’s 57thminute strike was followed by an embarrassing Kieran Trippier own goal.

The right-back passed the ball by Hugo Lloris into his own net after 84 minutes as Spurs slipped to a fourth successive away loss.

They will now be looking over their shoulders, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea closing in, after slipping nine points off leaders Liverpool in the title race.