'We were brilliant for 90 minutes’ – Arbeloa full of praise after Fulham earn first league win

Alvaro Arbeloa praised his Fulham side as they picked up their maiden Premier League win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Hull City on Saturday. 

Alex Iwobi netted the winner in the 33rd minute, combining with Sander Berge before whipping a powerful, curling strike into the bottom corner to end Fulham’s six-match winless start to the season. 

Arbeloa’s side created chances in excess from there, with Iwobi, Josh King and Oscar Bobb all going close to extending their advantage, though Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis produced a fine display to deny them. 

Gonzalo Garcia struck the woodwork late on, before Ryan Sessegnon was given a straight red card in the dying minutes for a reckless challenge on Robinio Vaz. 

"We were having the same feeling as other matches, when we were controlling the game for long spells and having good chances but didn't score,” the Spaniard told BBC Match of the Day. 

“Our rivals punish our mistakes or take their chances, but today we were brilliant for 90 minutes.  

“We controlled the game, had many chances and didn't concede any clear chances to Hull, a very good team. They are tough to beat. 

"I am very happy, especially for the supporters, they deserve this win, for the players, they were looking for this victory and have been working so hard.  

“We deserved it in other matches, but we couldn't get it; today was finally the day. 

"We have so many players with talent who can score. They will have chances. Players from the bench will be so important for us too. We have many chances and we need to try and take them. 

"This is a massive game for us, a massive week because we have Coventry, then Crystal Palace in seven days.  

“It won't be easy, but we know how we need to play and compete, we have to be competitive in this league. We have our way and hope we can win in many games." 

Fulham registered 10 first-half shots against Hull – their second-most before the break in a Premier League match this season, behind only their 13 against Crystal Palace in September – before adding another eight after the break. 

Their dominance was also reflected in their passing, completing 652 of 716 passes (91.1% accuracy), with the latter being their highest passing total in a league match this season. 

The Tigers, meanwhile, have seen their bright start to the season waver. They are winless across their last five Premier League matches, while against Fulham, they failed to register a single shot on target in a Premier League match for the first time since facing Palace in May 2017.  

"It's easy to analyse this game; we were out of everything,” Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic told BBC Match of the Day. 

“Fulham were much better than us in any terms, in and out of possession, first and second balls, duels. It was men against boys. We didn't show anything today. But we cannot change anything now. 

"The performances of Fulham have been good; they should have more points. We knew it would be tough today. We were completely out of it today.  

"It was very frustrating, maybe we had some situations around the box but made wrong decisions. They were much more aggressive than us and could have scored more."