Cole Palmer struck again for Chelsea as the Blues saw off Fulham in London derby in the Premier League, LCSoccerHub Reports.
Chelsea went into the game at the back of a two-match winning streak and were tipped to comfortably dispatch the Marco Silva-led boys, who have struggled to find the back of the net in their last three matches.
However, it was still a dicey affair between the two sides meeting under the Blue shadows of Stamford Bridge.
Despite a frustrating goal drought, Marco Silva led Fulham to an epic win over London neighbors Arsenal, ending their scoreless stream with a 2-1 home win over the Gunners.
Chelsea, on the other hand, returned to winning ways with a back-to-back Premier League victory over Crystal Palace and Luton Town before being pegged back to default settings in an EFL Cup clash by Michael Carrick’s second-division side Middleborough.
The Blues needed a win against Fulham to close in on the race for a top-four finish as they stood a chance to move up to the 8th place on the table after the six-pointer clash.
Marco Silva faced a tough test heading into the game against the Blues. It has been a year since Fulham won a match against the Blues, and the victory happened to be their first in the last 23 meetings. Meanwhile, the Blues had turned Stamford Bridge into a fortress against Fulham as they were yet to taste defeat in their last 18 matches.
Chelsea started the match dominating proceedings but could not break through Fulham’s brink wall defense.
Determined to pick up at least a point from Stamford Bridge, Fulham committed several bodies backward, sitting deep with a dogged backline.
The first half nearly ended barren before Fulham stung themselves in the foot with a reckless tackle by Diop inside the box.
Diop clipped down Raheem Sterling in the box and the referee pointed straight to the spot for a penalty kick. Cole Palmer converted it perfectly, wrong-footing Bernd Leno as he fired a low shot into the bottom-right corner to give the home side the lead.
The goal was enough to hurl the Blues in front at the break.
Fulham stepped up their game in the second half but could not find the back of the net. Jimenez closed in on nailing home an equaliser for the away side in the 73rd minute but Chelsea goalkeeper Petrovic pointed it away.
Jimenez again came close to netting the equaliser in the 82nd minute after Fulham’s counter. The Mexican forward spotted Petrovic away from his line and attempted a long ball over him but failed as Petrovic stopped it with his feet.
Fulham continued to mount late pressure on the hosts but could not break the goal deadlock as Chelsea held on to salvage a narrow 1-0 victory, thanks to Cole Palmer’s spot-kick. The Blues have now moved up to 8th on the table with 31 points from 21 games.
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