Ranieri off to a winning start at the Cottage
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice as Claudio Ranieri won his first match as Fulham boss 3-2 to pile pressure on Southampton manager Mark Hughes.
Stuart Armstrong, who impressed in Scotland’s two victories during the international break, netted a brace – his first Saints goals since his move from Celtic in the summer – either side of strikes from Mitrovic and Andre Schurrle for Fulham.
Ranieri praised the character of his Fulham players, but warned further improvement is required.
“Look, for us it’s an important match,” said the former Chelsea and Leicester boss.
“Everybody is very, very pleased, but it’s a little step. It’s not an easy job for everybody, but I believe. I believed until the end. I asked the players to fight until the end. We played a good match, but we conceded too many chances to the opponents.
Visiting supporters booed the late substitution of Armstrong, not appreciating the midfielder had cramp. Hughes, who felt Saints deserved to win, said: “It’s all quite predictable. I don’t think anybody’s surprised by it. Everybody’s frustrated. Our fans have been witness to similar games in the past, where we’ve done OK and that frustration of not getting the result.”
Jurgen Klopp saluted Liverpool’s record breakers after their win at Watford extended their unbeaten run to 13 games.
Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-arnold and Roberto Firmino scored second-half goals to seal a comfortable victory at Vicarage Road. But England midfielder Jordan Henderson will miss next weekend’s Merseyside derby with Everton after being sent off late on for two bookings.
Klopp said: “It was a really mature performance. “We never controlled games in the manner we do now. I know people miss one or two situations from last season, but we have now control games.”
Claude Puel declared himself proud of his Leicester City side after they came from behind to draw 1-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion with 10 men.
The Foxes appeared to have it all to do after Glenn Murray opened the scoring for the hosts and James Maddison was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in as many minutes. But Leicester rallied, with Jamie Vardy coming off the bench to earn a 1-1 draw with a late penalty. Asked if he was proud of his players, Puel replied: “Yes, of course. I am proud about our collective reaction. We played like 11 men.”
Marco Silva praised Gylfi Sigurdsson after the playmaker’s goal earned Everton victory over Cardiff City and a place in the Premier League’s top six.
Silva’s side are developing real momentum and yesterday’s 1-0 win was their fourth in a row at home.
“He’s performing well like we are playing,” said the Toffees boss. “He’s understanding more now what I want, the moves he has to do, what are the positions and the space on the pitch he has to receive the ball.”