Fil-French goalkeeper Alphonse Areola recorded a clean sheet in his debut as Fulham defeated Ipswich Town 1-0 Thursday Manila time to reach the third round of the English League Cup.
Areola manned the sticks for the newly-promoted English Premier League side which claimed victory at Portman Road courtesy of Aleksandar Mitrovic's goal in the 37th minute.
Manager Scott Parker liked what he saw from Areola, who didn’t see action in Fulham’s Premier League season opener against Arsenal over the weekend.
“The keeper didn’t have a lot to do but he had a good voice and gave us a good presence,” said Parker, as quoted by the South London Press.
The 27-year-old Areola saw action for the first time since signing with Fulham on loan from French league champion Paris Saint-Germain.
He sat on the bench Saturday when Fulham absorbed a 3-0 home defeat to Arsenal at Craven Cottage.
The League Cup, officially known as Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two major cup competitions in English football. It is open to all clubs from the Premier League and the three divisions of the English Football League.
The knockout-style competition is usually a time for Premier League clubs to field players who rarely get a chance to play during the league season.