Chelsea v Fulham as it happened

PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea v Fulham as it happened

Tunde Young 21:03 - 03.02.2023

Chelsea fielded five of their eight January signings but could not find a way past a dogged Fulham team in the West London derby.

  • What is being said about the game
https://twitter.com/PulseSportsNG/status/1621631393666158593?s=20&t=SgLk9FLZKthThfFdAKygXw
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  • Thank you ladies and gentlemen for riding with us, that signals the end of our live coverage but I leave you with some notable reactions to the game tonight. Goodnight!
  • Chelsea have a point and a clean sheet but it will feel like two points dropped and Fulham on the other hand still remain winless at Stamford Bridge in 44 years and goalless in 11 years on this ground but they are the ones celebrating a point gained tonight.
  • Chelsea remain 10th with just two goals scored in their last five games while Fulham move up to fifth thanks to the well-deserved point they picked up tonight.
  • FULL TIME at Stamford Bridge, a host of new players, still the same old Chelsea who were uninventive and failed to create enough to trouble Fulham tonight.
  • Sterling picks up the ball from a corner kick scramble and tried to curl home a shot from the left side but Bernd Leno did well to get across and catch the ball under duress.
  • Fulham right-back Kenny Tete has been named man of the match for his superb defensive display tonight, locking down Mudryk in the first half and then Sterling in the second. No one has gotten past him all night long.
  • 90' Carlos Vinicius who scored the winning goal in the reverse fixture comes off the bench to replace Aleksandar Mitrovic in search of another match-winner tonight. 
  • 79' David Datro Fofana almost scored with his first real involvement off the bench, latching on to a pass, going round the goalkeeper and dribbling the Fulham defender but had his effort blocked on the goalline by Tim Ream to deny a certain goal and keep the stalemate in place.
  • Speaking of Boehly's signings, Chelsea's most expensive player Enzo Fernandez came close to opening the scoring with a long-range shot that flashed just wide of the goal in the 71st minute.
  • 70 minutes played and Chelsea still look far from convincing. Good thing the transfer window is shut or Todd Boehly would have definitely tried to make more signings to fix this.
  • 59' Graham Potter throws on two more substitutions in hopes of finding the breakthrough goal. Raheem Sterling replaces Hakim Ziyech and Reece James comes off for captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
  • 51' Andreas Pereira gets a booking for what could have passed as a red card tackle despite VAR review. Joao Felix would be wondering why he was sent off in the reverse fixture for a similar tackle.
  • It's hard to understand why Mudryk is the halftime casualty here even though the Ukrainian winger had a quiet first half, he was not Chelsea's worst player. Perhaps an injury?
  • SUBSTITUTION AT HALFTIME! Chelsea swaps one new signing for another as Graham Potter takes off Mykhaylo Mudryk and replaces him with Noni Madueke.
  • Enzo Fernandez is living up to the hype so far with an encouraging first 45 minutes in Premier League football. More to come from the World Cup winner?
  • HALFTIME at Stamford Bridge and the last meaningful kick of the half was as close as anyone came to scoring in what has been an underwhelming 45 minutes so far. CHELSEA 0-0 FULHAM.
  • 44' Kai Havertz comes close!!! The German international was played through beautifully by Hakim Ziyech and he lobbed the ball over Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno but the ball hit the bar.
  • No Fulham player has scored at Stamford Bridge since then, it also remains the last time Fulham avoided defeat away at Chelsea.
  • American legend Clint Dempsey scored a 56th-minute equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw for Fulham away at Chelsea on boxing day in 2011.
Clint Dempsey was the last Fulham player to score away at Chelsea
  • While we await the first goal tonight at Stamford Bridge, did you know that Fulham haven't even scored in their last four visits to this stadium? Wanna guess who the last Fulham player to score here is?
  • 31' Kai Havertz misses a sitter!!! Chelsea finally creates their first real chance tonight after some good build-up play by new boy Enzo Fernandez and Mason Mount but Havertz could not slide home the opening goal, instead directing it well over the bar.
  • 24' Andreas Pereira provides the game's first real highlight with a shot struck low and hard towards the bottom corner but Kepa Arizzabalaga was up to the task with a superb save to deny Fulham the opening goal.
  • Still no goals or even goalscoring opportunities to report at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's new boys are yet to get fully into the flow of things while Fulham are biding their time, looking to catch the hosts on the break.
  • Fulham on the other hand are in search of their first league win away at Chelsea in 44 years and the 2-1 win in the reverse fixture just over two weeks ago would significantly increase their confidence of doing just that.
  • Both teams are separated by two points and three places on the log but 10th place Chelsea know that a win will see them leapfrog Fulham in seventh.
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  • TEAM NEWS! Chelsea's lineup has its fair share of talking points as Reece James makes his return to the starting xi, Enzo debuts just three days after joining from Benfica, Mykhaylo Mudryk starts in Chelsea colours for the first time and Hakim Ziyech starts as well despite almost joining PSG on deadline day.
  • The players walk out to the signature tune at Stamford Bridge 'Liquidator' blasting, and among them in blue is the new man, Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea's new number 5 now the most expensive player in British football history.