First-half goals give Chelsea victory over Fulham
Quickfire first-half goals from Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja helped Chelsea comfortably see off Fulham and earn Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino his first away win.
Chelsea, who had won just once in the Premier League this season prior to this match, started well and should have been ahead after two minutes when Broja was put through by Enzo Fernandez only to blaze high and wide.
Mudryk then shot horribly over from the edge of the box before finally ending his run of 24 games without a goal since his move to Stamford Bridge, with a smart 18th-minute finish.
It was created from a beautifully clipped pass from Levi Colwill that dropped over the head of Issa Diop, with the onrushing Ukranian winger taking a touch, then firing past Bernd Leno.
Just 82 seconds later Chelsea doubled their lead when Broja scored his first goal since returning from a serious knee injury, after being teed up by the impressive Cole Palmer.
Palmer, in his first Premier League start since moving to Stamford Bridge last month, dispossessed Tim Ream on the edge of the Fulham box and rolled the ball into the path of the Albanian forward who found the net via the help of a deflection off Ream.
Fulham’s only real chance of the half came through a Raul Jimenez header from an Andreas Pereira corner that flew wide.
The home side did improve slightly early in the second half after the introduction of Alex Iwobi, who hooked the ball just wide but created little else of note.
Chelsea substitute Ian Maatsen, who replaced Mudryk at half-time, almost added a third goal when his shot hit the post, with Fernandez’s follow-up effort superbly saved by Leno.
Sasa Lukic should have pulled one back for the Whites 15 minutes from time, but he shot straight at Robert Sanchez from a Tom Cairney centre.
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Ream, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed (Cairney 65), Pereira (Lukic 75), Wilson (Iwobi 53), Willian; Jimenez (Vinicius 53). Subs not used: Rodak, Bassey, Ballo-Toure, Decordova-Reid, Muniz.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Cucurella, Silva, Disasi, Colwill; Caicedo (Madueke 90), Gallagher, Fernandez (Matos 90), Palmer (Ugochuukwu 77), Mudryk (Maatsen 45), Broja (Sterling 65). Subs not used: Petrovic, Sterling, Gilchrist, Brooking, Washington.
