[ad_1]
Frank Lampard was able to celebrate the persistence and desire of his players. Chelsea dropped Fulham at the end, finally breaking the deadlock when Mason Mount drove the winning goal home with 12 minutes to go. Lampard leapt into the air, a weight lifted from his shoulders, preventing another investigation.
However, it was an uncomfortable night. While the patience was commendable, Chelsea fell short in the creativity department. Fulham, four points behind Burnley at 17th, had almost resisted. They played the entire second half with 10 men after Antonee Robinson’s red card and managed to frustrate Chelsea for long periods.
As Fulham concentrated on compressing the pitch during the early stages, sitting deep and playing at halftime, the pressure on Chelsea to take the lead grew. At times he felt too calm from the visitors, too polite, even if a deep pivot from Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic helped them establish control in midfield. Chelsea needed a sharper movement and more imagination to separate Fulham and the longer they went scoreless, the harder it became to spot a pattern on Lampard’s side in the final third.
In fairness, there was logic for a conservative Lampard starting XI, despite many Chelsea fans being disappointed to see Jorginho replace suspended N’Golo Kanté after an impressive display by young Billy Gilmour against Morecambe on the end. last week. With the expectation that Fulham will provide an uncomfortable test after stopping Tottenham, Lampard wanted leaders on the field.
Kurt Zouma gave way to Antonio Rüdiger, joining Thiago Silva in central defense for the first time this season, and Olivier Giroud was preferred in attack to Timo Werner, whose pace could have been ineffective against Fulham’s cautious defense.
Giroud had Chelsea’s first chance, testing Alphonse Areola with a deflected drive after a good job from Mount. The problem, however, was putting Lampard’s theory into practice. Chelsea lacked spark despite dominating possession. Christian Pulisic was having a calm game on the left wing and Hakim Ziyech was having a hard time picking the lock every time he came on the right wing. Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was left out despite impressing from the bench recently, could be considered unfortunate for not being involved.
Chelsea started knocking on the door midway. Mount hit the crossbar after a poor clearance attempt by Robinson, who would again make a mistake, and Rüdiger tested Areola from the resulting corner. However, there was not enough spark from Chelsea, little sign of cohesion in attack.
With Harrison Reed facing challenges in midfield and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa offering flashes of class alongside him, Fulham’s confidence increased. Even though they struggled to carve out chances for Ademola Lookman to race in César Azpilicueta, they still had a half chance.
When a fluid break left Chelsea uneven, Ivan Cavaleiro shot from very close. That was a disappointment for Chelsea and Fulham would soon press the self-destruct button. The interval was approaching when Robinson, trying to win a fumble, launched into a reckless challenge and sent Azpilicueta flying. Peter Bankes, the referee, immediately showed the winger a red card.
The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily soccer email
Going down to 10 men was the last thing Fulham needed after having two days to prepare for their trip to the Spurs. Fatigue was a concern given that Parker’s team was affected by a Covid-19 outbreak recently. Fulham must have felt the lactic acid rise. They crashed to the ground against the Spurs and Parker was only able to make one change, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek ineligible against his parent club.
It was up to Chelsea to take advantage of it. They pushed at the start of the second half, forcing a succession of corners, and Giroud came close. However, Fulham refused to budge. Defending heroically, maintaining tactical discipline, their commitment to the cause was summed up when Ziyech saw two white jerseys charge to close the gap as the Moroccan lined up a shot from 20 meters.
With time running out, Lampard was under pressure to use his bench wisely. Chelsea just needed two defensive midfielders on the field. But Lampard lost valuable time, not changing anything until the 65th minute, finally giving in by introducing Tammy Abraham for Jorginho.
Abraham ran to join Giroud up front and quickly sent two headers off target. However, inspiration continued to elude Chelsea and the unthinkable almost happened at the other end, Silva rescued Edouard Mendy after a mistake by the Chelsea goalkeeper gave Cavaleiro an opening.
Lampard turned to Werner and Hudson-Odoi, the latter hitting a dribble down the right and sending a cross that eventually reached Ben Chilwell. The left-back chip was ripped open by Areola and fell to Mount, who fumbled home. Chelsea was relieved. The doubts, however, will not disappear.
