After two traumatic defeats to Manchester City, Chelsea seems to be regaining regularity in the season. The Blues managed to put in their second successive win in the Premier League by beating Fulham 2-1 on Sunday, away from home. The Argentine striker, Gonzalo Higuaín opened the scoring for the Blues, after a good right-wing cross from Cesar Azpilicueta.
Fulham equalized through Chambers, as he capitalized on some poor defending from Chelsea, and finished home Ryan Babel’s cross from the right after a short corner.
Despite the Fulham supporters showed some resilience and believed that their team could turn the game around after the equalizer, the Brazilian midfielder Jorginho ended their hopes in a clinical finish from the edge of the box, assisted by Eden Hazard.
Yes, every goal was scored in the first half of the game. But the Blues could have scored other goals, as they had some good opportunities to do so. Willian, Higuain, and Hazard wasted some really good chances, as Fulham grew into the match, in the final 15 minutes. Ironically, the hero for Chelsea was the rebel goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, who made some good saves on Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Fulham could even score their second goal, in a late finish from Ryan Sessegnon, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
We can say that Kepa guaranteed the victory for the Blues. We cannot say Sarri is 100% into him though. Maybe he had no options left, as Kepa’s substitute, Willy Caballero doesn’t seem very reliable for the goalkeeper role.
The victory makes Chelsea closer to the fight for a place in the next Champions League. Now the Blues have 56 points, two off Manchester United, who are the fourth-placed of the Premier League. Arsenal is the 5th, with 57, after the 1-1 draw in the North London Derby, against Tottenham.