Fulham suffered a 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea in a match that saw the west London side show plenty of fight despite the result, with new boss Alvaro Arbeloa insisting his team deserved something more from the encounter.
The game marked Arbeloa's first outing in the Premier League dugout, and though the outcome did not go his way, he found reason for encouragement in how his players responded throughout the contest. Chelsea ultimately edged the five-goal thriller, but Fulham pushed their London rivals until the final whistle, refusing to fold even as they trailed.
Speaking after the match, Arbeloa reflected on his side's display, saying Fulham deserved "a little bit more" from the game given the effort and quality they showed against a strong Chelsea outfit. He also praised the resilience of his squad, highlighting the "character and personality" on show as a promising sign for the beginning of his tenure.
The result leaves Fulham with plenty to build on as they continue life under their new manager. While three points slipped away at home, the performance itself appeared to offer Arbeloa a foundation to work from as he looks to stamp his identity on the team in the weeks ahead. For a manager taking charge for the first time in England's top flight, extracting positives from a narrow defeat to one of the division's traditionally powerful clubs is not an insignificant outcome.
Chelsea, for their part, will be satisfied to have come away from Craven Cottage with all three points, even if the scoreline suggests the game was tighter than some might have expected. A 3-2 victory on the road against a determined home side represents a solid result, though the fact that Fulham managed to find the net twice will not have gone unnoticed by the Chelsea camp, who will look to tighten things up defensively in matches to come.
For Arbeloa, the challenge now is to convert the promising signs from this defeat into tangible results in the matches ahead. Premier League football is unforgiving, and moral victories count for little in the final standings, but the composure and fight shown by his players will likely serve as a talking point in training as he seeks to build momentum. The Spaniard's task will be to ensure that the character shown against Chelsea becomes a consistent trait rather than an isolated response to a difficult scoreline.
Fulham's fanbase, too, will take some comfort from the way their team competed against a side with far greater resources and pedigree in recent seasons. Losing narrowly at home to Chelsea is far from a disaster, and if Arbeloa can harness the fighting spirit on display into more clinical finishing and tighter defending, the early signs suggest his reign could get off to a competitive start even if this particular afternoon ended in defeat.
Attention will now turn to how Fulham respond in their next fixture, as Arbeloa looks to build on the qualities he identified in his players following this tightly contested loss at Craven Cottage.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.