By Olukayode Olumuyiwa.
Chelsea’s disciplinary woes and a clinical Fulham attack combined to prolong the Blues’ misery on Wednesday night, as the Cottagers secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory in a fiery West London derby.
The result leaves Chelsea on a five-match winless run and marks only the third time in 29 head-to-head meetings that Fulham have emerged victorious against their neighbors. Incoming Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior watched from the stands as his new side struggled with the same lack of control that has plagued their season.
Red Card Chaos
The match took a decisive turn in just the 22nd minute. After a long ball from Bernd Leno caught the Chelsea defense off-guard, Marc Cucurella—returning from injury—was shown a straight red card for pulling down Harry Wilson as the Welshman raced through on goal.
The dismissal sparked a flurry of bookings for dissent, with three Chelsea players and Fulham manager Marco Silva all seeing yellow in the aftermath. Despite the man disadvantage, the Blues initially held firm, even surviving a scare when a Wilson strike was ruled out for a marginal offside against Raúl Jiménez just before the break.
A Tale of Two Headers
Fulham finally broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half. Sander Berge delivered a pinpoint cross that allowed Jiménez to power a header into the bottom corner.
Chelsea showed flashes of resilience and managed to claw their way back in the 72nd minute. Liam Delap pounced on a rebound after Antonee Robinson inadvertently flicked a Pedro Neto corner onto the post, stabbing the ball home to level the score and give the traveling fans a glimmer of hope.
Wilson the Hero
The parity lasted only nine minutes. In the 81st minute, the usual suspect Harry Wilson picked up the ball on the edge of the area. His strike took a slight deflection off Reece James, spinning past Robert Sánchez to restore Fulham’s lead and secure all three points.
League Standings & Outlook
The victory sees Fulham climb to eighth in the Premier League table, sitting level on points with Chelsea and trailing them only on goal difference. While Fulham celebrates a sixth consecutive league match unbeaten, Rosenior faces a daunting task in restoring discipline and confidence to a Chelsea side that seems to be spiraling.
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