After such a dominant performance against a team so blunt going forward, it almost felt inevitable that Álvaro Arbeloa was going to be denied his first Premier League win as Fulham head coach in similar fashion as the weeks and games before. After all their chances and possession, Craven Cottage should not have been a place of nerves when Mohamed Belloumi lined up a free-kick as three minutes of stoppage time were shown.
When the Hull winger blazed that free-kick over the bar – in truth, the closest Hull had come to scoring throughout the second half – the tension was released that little bit more. Despite Ryan Sessegnon’s late red card, the full-time whistle brought a first victory of the season, courtesy of Alex Iwobi’s first-half strike, and a release from the burden of being the Premier League’s basement club.