Giving opinions to the media after a match has no
novelty value for someone who has played 282
games for Chelsea, but to speak having scored a goal
was a moment John Mikel Obi has waited for a long
time.
It wasn't a winner but his agile hook past Fulham
keeper David Stockdale was the reassurance the
Blues needed late on in Saturday's game, as we
returned to winning ways after two defeats and made
three home victories out of three in the Barclays
Premier League.
It was Mikel's first Chelsea goal since Jose
Mourinho was last in charge at Stamford Bridge.
'This game was all about winning and we got the
three points, and my goal was just a bonus,' said the
26-year-old.
'But I am pretty happy about it. It has been a long
time and the guys have been killing me about it.
They say you go to the national team and score but
you don't score for Chelsea so it was good for me to
get my first Premier League goal. I scored in the FA
Cup a couple of times.
'I do practice scoring in training sometimes but I
don't get into the positions often. Gone are the days
when I go onto the pitch thinking it might be me
today, for me it is about the team.'
Mikel believed his side had a good claim for a
penalty for a foul on his midfield colleague Ramires
that could have extended the lead prior to his strike,
and after Fulham provided solid resistance early in
the game, he saw merit in the way Chelsea came out
on top meaning our neighbours' 49-year quest for a
top-flight win at the Bridge continues.
'Fulham made it very hard for us, they sat back, were
very compact through the middle and tried to
counter-attack, and we couldn't pass the ball like we
wanted to, but once we scored the first goal it
became a bit more open,' said Mikel.
'There was commitment from the guys and we
fought hard for this win.
'We wanted to put ourselves back on a winning run
and we know we have the players to do it, it is just
about performing, and we managed to do that.
'Our fans have been disappointed about a few
performances coming into this game so we wanted to
give them something.
'The manager was very disappointed with us as well,
the way we played the last game against Basel.
'We were feeling a bit of pressure but if you look at
this team, we have big players and a big squad and it
is not all about playing when it is rosy, it is also about
playing when people are not happy and you have to
go out there and show character, and I think we did
that in this game.'



www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3466646/title/mikel-my-special-one