After Alex Iwobi had fired the hosts into a first-half lead at Craven Cottage, it looked as though our wait for a first away win of 2025 would continue. That was, until, Tyrique George popped up with an equaliser – his first for Chelsea in the Premier League – with seven minutes remaining.

And that wasn’t the end of the drama as fellow wideman Pedro Neto hammered home a winner deep into stoppage time to send the Chelsea fans behind the goal wild. It ensured a 2-1 victory over our near-neighbours and kept us firmly in the hunt for Champions League football.

While the celebrations at the end could certainly be labelled as ‘wild’, Maresca remain a figure of calmness on the sidelines with our head coach explaining why he ‘always believed’ a Chelsea goal – or two, in this case – was coming.

‘To be honest I was quite positive [that we’d get back into the game] because the team were creating chances, and we were doing well,’ Maresca said of our second-half performance at Fulham.

‘Sometimes you also have to have a little bit of luck go your way, and I think Tyrique's goal gave us that extra energy, an extra boost. Like I said, I was quite positive because the team was performing well.

‘It was a fantastic goal from Pedro, as it was from Tyrique, but I think the entire team played well. Trevoh was good, Levi was good, the ones in the middle – Moi and Enzo, Cole was better. So I was happy for all of them.’

Neto’s winner was just reward for our determination and ‘never say die’ attitude, with Maresca delighted with the character shown by the players.

To win a local derby in such a manner, in front of the travelling Chelsea fans, was a moment to saviour and our Italian head coach was pleased with the way Pedro’s goal was constructed.

‘It was a fantastic moment for Pedro – and the rest of the team – to score and celebrate with the fans in that way,’ added Enzo.

‘I was very pleased with the goal. There are many different ways to score but when it is in that moment, and a really well-worked goal from the team in the style we want then of course it is very pleasing.

‘It’s good for the player to score this goal and enjoy that moment but overall, it was just fantastic for the whole team to share this joy with the fans too.’

Maresca also explained why Reece James only featured for 45 minutes of the victory, with the skipper’s withdrawal at half-time for Malo Gusto always part of the gameplan.

‘Yes, Reece playing for only 45 minutes was planned,’ explained Maresca.

‘I’m very happy with Reece. Happy because he played 90 minutes two days ago and then again played 45 [against Fulham], so for us as a team it's an important moment.

‘Now we can start to think about using him every three days, which is fantastic for us because he's our captain and he's a main player, so it’s good news. We changed him after 45 because he has played a lot recently and that was always the plan.’