Chelsea 2-0 Fulham || the-gorila Match Report

The 3rd match of today (and the first that I've been able to watch for a long, long time) was a West London derby, separated by just 2 tube stops, and a must-win game for Fulham. With 5 games to go and 9 points adrift, wins were needed and this was certainly not an opponent they'd have chosen. Fulham went with an attacking looking line-up with attacking full backs Antonee Robinson and Ola Aina. Chelsea gave a first start of the season to young midfielder Billy Gilmour - a player who after shining when given an opportunity last season appears to have fallen off the radar completely.

Chelsea clearly had the better of the 1st half and were unlucky only to go in 1-0 up. Mason Mount was impressive once again, nearly setting up Timo Werner within the first 5 minutes - Werner couldn't quite reach Mount's pass in his (failed) effort to stay onside.

Unsurprisingly, it was Mount who created the goal. A perfectly weighted through ball to Havertz, who easily held Aina off before finishing coolly into the corner ⚽ 1-0 ⚽. Not long after, Havertz had the ball in the net again but was clearly offside from another Mount through ball.

If Ziyech had the composure of Havertz, he'd have scored too shortly before half time. Mount sliding Werner through this time, who teed up Ziyech on the penalty spot only to strike the ball straight at Areola.

Despite Chelsea's dominance, Fulham did have their chances. Antonee Robinson tested Mendy early on, as did Ademola Lookman from the opposite flank. Both were shots from the corner of the box and both decent, but not spectularly saved by Mendy. The best chance though, came seconds before half time. Aina smashing a powerful shot from the edge of the box, taking a nasty deflection which wrong footed and so nearly beat Mendy. Mendy reacted well though, changing direction quickly and doing just enough to keep the ball out. For all of Chelsea's dominance, they will have gone in both relieved and disappointed at being 1-0 up at half time.

During the break, Tuchel and his players must have realised what could've happened at the end of the 1st half and got off to a flier, scoring just 5 minutes after the restart. A fantastic long ball by Chilwell expertly controlled by Havertz (I almost wrote Hazard!!) and then brought inside. A one-two with Werner somehow played through 3 or 4 Fulham defenders put Havertz through on goal and a 1st time finish put the game beyond Fulham ⚽ 2-0 ⚽. All the runs were perfectly timed and no matter how hard VAR looked, they could find no wrong.

Fulham were allowed to play a bit more after that without ever really threatening. With just over 30 minutes left, I joined the 22 players on the pitch in the hope that the game would end 30 minutes early as the-toddler-gorilla sustained a prolonged period of destruction upon our living room which only a toddler is capable of. This resulted in the-mrs-gorilla going ape-shit and storming off upstairs with the-baby-gorilla. Unfortunately for all 23 of us, the referee insisted upon completing the full 90 minutes and adding an extra 4 onto the end for good measure.

👇 Match Highlights from SkySports Website
(Open the image in a new window to view)

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12292696/havertz-double-earns-derby-win-for-chelsea

👇 Here is a photo I took at Stamford Bridge as a placeholder