It was yet another edition of the west London derby between Chelsea and Fulham, as the two sides met on Sunday at Craven Cottage. Both teams needed all three points for different reasons. While the Blues wanted to win the game to remain in the race for a top four finish, The Cottagers wanted to win this match to boost their chances of remaining in the Premier League.
However, things did not improve for new interim boss Scott Parker, as despite the player’s best efforts on the night, they ended up short.
It was Gonzalo Higuain that gave his team the lead in the 20th minute of the match, with the Argentine attacker finishing off a superbly created goal by Cesar Azpilicueta. Calum Chambers equalized to make it 1-1, seven minutes later from a set-piece where he was left totally unmarked.
Despite that, it was Jorginho who produced some magic as the half-an-hour mark, to score his first Chelsea goal, which was a total beauty. It was a really superb finish and the goal proved to be the match-winner, as there were no more goals in the second half of this encounter.
The match ended 2-1 despite various attempts by both sides to add to their tally and it can be said that the visitors were rather lucky on the night to take back all three points from the game. Here are the talking points-
Kepa Saves Himself The Early Blushes
There was a moment in the first half when Kepa nearly messed up things on his return to the starting eleven. The Spaniard charged towards a cross that was sent into the box and tried to catch it, with Babel attacking it. However, he could not hold it and dropped it right next to the Dutchman, whose back was facing towards the ball.
By the time, the attacker realized what had happened and tried to get something on to the ball, it was the Chelsea goalie, who had regained composure and held on to it.
Higuain’s Superb Finish
The attacker silenced his critics by scoring a superb goal with a first-time taken shot, as Azpilicueta put the ball into the box from the right-hand side. The ball went through the legs of a defender and beat the keeper, who had no chance of saving it. This was a morale booster, after some of the link-up play was not that effective prior to this.
Poor Defending By The Away Side And The Chambers’ Equalizer
There were many instances where Fulham could have easily made a comeback into the game. It was Kepa who kept saving the visitors with some brilliant saves at times. Despite that, he could do nothing about the Chambers goal, which saw him run free at the far-post, only to put the ball into the back of the net with a cool and composed finish.
Jorginho’s Superb Right Footed Finish
After all the negative remarks and trolling, the midfield superstar did something right. He scored a superb right-footed goal that saw his team win the game. It was scored at the half-an-hour mark, though proved to be the winner of the tie. More such goals and he can surely turn a new leaf with the fans of the Stamford Bridge based club.
Wasteful Finishing By Both Teams In The Second Half
There were so many chances wasted by both sides that at one point of time, it was just too painful to watch. The two London based clubs could have scored at least 3-4 more goals, had it not been for complacent finishing and good goalkeeping too.
Kepa made some great saves to keep his side in the game and take back all three points. However, the finishing at either end was just not the very best and could have been much better. It was just that kind of a night.
