Antonio’s verdict on Fulham: “We can enjoy this win, we deserved it”

Antonio Conte couldn’t help but smile after we dominated in our 2-1 win against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, only to be rocked by a late revival from the visitors when we should really have been out of sight.

“We have to suffer until the end,” he said, reflecting on a performance where one minute towards the end of the second half, Richarlison was the width of the post from making it 3-0 and the next, Aleksandar Mitrovic had curled home for 2-1. Hugo Lloris then had to make a wonder save, full stretch to tip over another Mitrovic effort that deflected, looped up and was destined for the top corner. Richarlison, superb in his first start, then had a goal disallowed in the final minute.

Mitrovic’s goal, on 83 minutes, was Fulham’s first effort on target. We ended up with 23 efforts, 10 on target, hit the woodwork twice, had two goals disallowed and Heung-Min Son and Ryan Sessegnon will be wondering how Bernd Leno kept them at bay - two of his eight saves.

Not surprising then that Antonio was delighted to get a victory we full deserved over the line. “Now, for sure, we can enjoy this win, because we deserve it,” he said. “We played really well. I liked the game, the way we played, the intensity, the intention.

“We created so many chances. I’m really pleased with our performance. You know very well, especially in this type of game, I repeat, we were good to create so many chances and not concede chances. Also, in this type of game, a good goalkeeper stays always with great attention. Hugo, you know very well, is a fantastic goalkeeper for us.

“I really enjoyed the performance of my players, and I told them at the end of the game, because I think we played with personality, quality and did a lot of positive things. But, at the end, you know very well that to win, you have to score. If I have to find a situation that we have to improve it’s to be more clinical, to be more killer, and to score more goals. In this way, we’d be more relaxed, and we’d enjoy the game until the end.

“I’m also a bit disappointed we couldn’t finish this game with another clean sheet, but, it’s okay, to get three points and 14 points on the table is important, important because we’ve had a good start to the season and important before we start in the Champions League, to arrive with a good win. Now, we have to rest and prepare for the game against Marseille.”