"Chelsea's manager himself claims results have been ugly but he has promised the fans the beautiful game."
Fulham arrived having not beaten Chelsea in their previous 15 meetings but there were few nerves showing until Samuel Eto'o scared them after six minutes, shooting wide.
Fulham's Damien Duff, Parker and Steve Sidwell all previously played for Chelsea, so they were not overawed by the occasion.
Midfield ace Parker was keen to pump balls forward and allow Bent to test his pace against the Chelsea defence but Bent wasted a 13th-minute chance shooting straight at the advancing Petr Cech.
The action was fast and furious with Duff and Ashley Cole playing a big part.
Fulham created good openings, with Parker orchestrating most, but they lacked a finishing touch with any quality.
Fulham keeper David Stockdale stopped Branislav Ivanovic giving Chelsea a 45th-minute lead, blocking a shot with his legs.
Oscar finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute.
Mourinho later sent on Fernando Torres for Eto'o to try to increase the lead.
Chelsea's aggression finally paid off when Mikel stole in to make it 2-0 to ease the pressure after the midweek defeat to Basel.
CHELSEA FULHAM CHELSEA: Cech 6 , Ivanovic 6 , Cahill 6, Terry 6, A. Cole 6; Hazard 6 (De Bruyne 85th), Schurrle 6, (Lampard 79th), Mikel 6, Ramires 6; Oscar 8; Eto'o 5 (Torres 59th) 5).
FULHAM: Stockdale 6; Reither 7, Hangeland 7, Amorebieta 7, Richardson 6; Parker , Sidwelll 7, Duff 7; Kacaniklic 6 (Mesca (72nd) 5), Kasami 6 (Rodallega 84th), Bent 5
STAR MAN: Oscar
Ref: A Marriner
No comments:
Post a Comment