It is evident that Chelsea does not magically play well, but this time they got a win and above all in a derby against Fulham decided at the lowest (1-0).
Again it was Cole Palmer who pulled the car. Not new either. The Englishman, who arrived this summer for a fee from Manchester City, is Todd Boehly’s best signing so far and without being a forward he is the team’s top scorer. Against Fulham he scored again, this time from a penalty, and now has 9 goals, two more than Havertz had in all of last season, in which he was the top scorer for the Blues.
Although in the defense of Mauricio Pochettino it can be said that the team lacks arguments to unblock games with teams that are closing in their own field. Enzo, Caicedo and Gallagher are a working center field, but have very little imagination and can’t cut lines in short space.
Chelsea miss Palmer in that area, who has to play wide open. All this made the first half, although almost the game in general, a duel with almost no chances. The clearest, in fact, before the ‘blue’ goal was from Wilson, Petrovic avoided Fulham’s goal on the line, which soon asked for the expulsion of Malo Gusto for a careless tackle that could have happened.
And given the lack of confidence in attack, a bright play by Sterling, with a good cut, made the difference. Diop fell into the trap and took the winger on the spot, so it was a penalty. Palmer, a specialist, changed it (42′).
An advantage that reigned in the second half. Although Fulham opened up a bit more, it didn’t lead to a more attractive rivalry either. Chelsea had two clear chances to extend the lead, but the post, on both occasions, prevented goals from Enzo and Gallagher. Fortunately, Pochettino’s side didn’t need it, and with 10 minutes remaining they found it even more difficult when Marco Silva’s side took the lead, albeit ineffectively, so the scoreboard didn’t move.
match lineup
28
27
26
8
2
6
twenty
25
19
23
7
17
2
33
10
4
31
8
26
7
18
twenty
Stamford Bridge
Bernard Leno17
37′
92′
Kenny Tete2
63′
Anthony Robinson33
57′
Tom Cairney10
74′
Tosin Adarabioyo4
78′
Issa Diop31
48′
78′
91′
Harry Wilson8
48′
63′
João Palhinha26
82′
65′
Raul Jimenez7
Andreas Pereira18
81′
76′
Williamtwenty
Replacements
Marek Rodák1
Tim Ream13
Timothy Castagnetwenty-one
63′
76′
Harrison Reed6
92′
Sasa Lukic28
82′
Tyrese Francois35
91′
Bobby De Cordova-Reid14
63′
65′
Rodrigo Muniz19
81′
Carlos Vinicius30
coach
Mauricio Pochettino
Marco Alexandre Saraiva da Silva
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
