Reggae Boy Reid hopes win leads to new year success

LONDON, England (CMC):

Reggae Boy Bobby Reid hopes Fulham’s shock New Year Eve’s victory over title contenders Arsenal can serve as a catalyst in the new year.

Reid scored the winner in the 59th minute at Craven Cottage, capping off a superb come-from-behind win after the hosts found themselves trailing after five minutes, courtesy of Bukayo Saka’s strike.

Prior to Sunday’s victory, Fulham had lost three on the bounce in the Premier League.

“It’s a positive,” Reid said of the result which lifted Fulham to 13th on 24 points.

“We can obviously build on this, build on our performance and, hopefully in the New Year, we can pick up results.

“Obviously, we’ve got big Cup games coming up as well, so we just need to build on this and keep going.”

Fulham were forced to scrap after falling behind early, Gabriel Martinelli forcing a save out of goalkeeper Bernd Leno only for Saka to tap in from point blank range.

The comeback began in the 30th when Raúl Jiménez finished off a flowing transition move from five yards, before Reid responded quickest to a loose ball in the box following a corner, to poke his finish past David Raya nearing the hour mark.

“We put on a performance that everyone should be proud of – the fans, and everyone else,” Reid said.

“We had true determination and grit, and we have to continue that into the new year.

“I think we were resilient in our shape. We all knew what we were doing, everyone was working hard and working for each other and, on the ball, we were very good.

“We understood how we can hurt them and, thankfully I got the goal – right place, right time – but the lads worked really hard and deserved the victory.”

Reid, who joined Fulham from Cardiff City four years ago, has scored four goals this season.