Claudio Ranieri hails Fulham's 3-2 win over Southampton as 'important step'
Saturday 24 November 2018 18:26, UK
Claudio Ranieri hailed Fulham's 3-2 victory over Southampton as an "important step", while labelling Aleksandar Mitrovic "one of the best strikers in the world".
Fulham came into Ranieri's first game in charge since succeeding Slavisa Jokanovic as Fulham manager rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, having lost their last six matches in a row in all competitions.
The writing looked to be on the wall when Southampton raced into an early lead at Craven Cottage through Stuart Armstrong. However, a Mitrovic double helped Fulham turn things around and earn a battling 3-2 victory, a win that moves them off the bottom of the table.
"It is a little step, but an important step for the players, for everybody, for the fans," Ranieri told Sky Sports. "We had to work hard. The match was 3-2, but could have been many more for us, for them, but I am happy.
"When we were one down, I wanted to see how we reacted and it was very good, amazing. At 2-2 we again had to react, and this is the spirit that I like.
"The players arrive together this week, and I only had two days with them. It is not easy to work in this condition, but it is okay. Of course we have to work more, more, more.
"I asked the players to fight until the end. We played a good match but we conceded too many chances to the opponent. We have to improve a lot, to work hard, to improve tactically."
Ranieri reserved special praise for Mitrovic, who scored his first league goals since late September to steer Fulham to victory.
"For me Mitrovic is one of the best strikers in Europe. When I say Europe, let's say the world," Ranieri added.
"He's only 24 years old, he's a fantastic player. It's important to give the ball to him because he can play as a platform but also as a goalscorer.
"When the ball arrives in the box he's very, very close to the goal. It's important to give him a lot of chances to score."
