Arbeloa’s Fulham face Premier League crisis after Palace defeat

Fulham’s difficult start under Alvaro Arbeloa deepened on Saturday as Crystal Palace won 3-2 at Craven Cottage, leaving the London club without a point from their opening three Premier League matches.

The defeat followed Fulham’s League Cup victory over Wimbledon, a third-tier side, but it means the club have now lost all three of their league games since Arbeloa took charge. They have also dropped into the relegation zone, increasing the pressure on the former Real Madrid coach at the beginning of the new campaign.

Fulham were not outplayed for long periods and were often the more convincing side. However, they failed to make their dominance count in front of goal, while their defence struggled to contain Crystal Palace when opportunities arose.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Palace scored all three of their goals from only five shots on target, underlining Fulham’s defensive problems as well as the visitors’ efficiency.

Joshua King put Fulham in front, giving the home side an ideal start. Cesar Palacios was among Fulham’s most effective players and helped create the second goal after taking advantage of King’s intelligent movement.

That advantage was not enough to secure a result. Tyrick Mitchell brought Crystal Palace level at 2-2 after Fulham’s defence became disorganised, reviving the visitors’ hopes of completing the comeback.

Mitchell again played a decisive role in the match before Ben Chilwell completed Crystal Palace’s turnaround in the 77th minute. The third goal also followed confusion in Fulham’s defence, leaving the hosts empty-handed despite their strong spells of attacking play.

The result has made Arbeloa’s first weeks in the Premier League extremely difficult. Fulham’s next two league fixtures will provide a much sterner assessment of the team’s position, with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool followed by a home match against Manchester United at Craven Cottage.

Failure to take a positive result from those two matches would place Arbeloa’s position under serious scrutiny so early in the season. Fulham must now recover quickly, with their first points of the campaign still to come and the club already inside the relegation places.

The report also highlighted other football stories, including a “disastrous rating” and the “failure” of the referee in Real Madrid’s match against Real Betis. Another item featured Jose Mourinho saying he thought a Real Betis player had died in front of the dugout.

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