 | RANIERI'S VIEW |
Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri defended his unpopular decision to take off Damien Duff and Jesper Gronkjaer during the 2-1 win over Fulham. "I saw him Damien having his calf massaged at half-time and immediately thought about Wednesday's Champions League game (against Arsenal).
"Damien has been out a long time and I didn't want to take any risk.
"I took off Gronkjaer because we were fighting a lot of Fulham players in midfield and we needed Scott Parker."
Chelsea kept up the pressure on leaders Arsenal, who also won, thanks to Duff's winner after Mark Pembridge had equalised Eidur Gudjohnsen's opener.
Ranieri said: "We played well, we were focused and had many shots. The opponents were good but they only shot from their set-pieces.
"Eidur scored an amazing goal and I was pleased with three points. Damien made many possibilities for us in the second half and we were very dangerous but it was not an easy match."
MMIX
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