Oscar Bobb's late strike sinks Coventry as Fulham climb out of relegation zone

Bobb's moment of magic settles a tight contest

Oscar Bobb produced a late moment of quality to give Fulham a narrow 1-0 win at Coventry City on Saturday, making it back-to-back Premier League victories for Alvaro Arbeloa's side. The Norway playmaker twisted his way into the box and curled a shot into the far corner in the 80th minute, breaking a deadlock that had looked likely to end goalless.

The goal was Bobb's first Premier League strike for Fulham and only his second for the club since his £27m move from Manchester City in January.

Visitors edge the chances and the decisions

Fulham had looked the more likely side to score before the break. Josh King crashed a effort against the post in the first half, and the visitors edged Coventry in most departments. They also felt they were lucky to avoid a penalty decision against them: Calvin Bassey pushed Brandon Thomas-Asante before the forward was dragged down, and VAR checked the incident extensively before no penalty was given.

"He's run the risk by holding onto his shirt. As the ball came in, Bassey pushed the Coventry player away from him to make it look like he'd pulled his shirt. The foul is by Bassey first." - Mike Dean, former referee, on Sky Sports

Coventry had their own appeal late on, when the ball struck the arm of Shea Charles in the box from Jack Rudoni's cross. That too was checked and cleared.

Fulham out of the bottom three

The win was Fulham's first away victory in nine attempts, a run dating back to February. It also moves them out of the relegation zone and into 12th place after eight games. Coventry remain 19th. The Guardian noted that Fulham's win came a week after they ended their winless start to the league campaign by beating Hull 1-0, and that Frank Lampard's Coventry side had been second-bottom before the result.

Coventry had come into the match off the back of a 4-1 home win over Newcastle, but struggled to trouble Bernd Leno on a frustrating afternoon at the CBS Arena.