Palmer Runs The Show In Alonso’s First Chel…

Photo by Pedro Porru/MB Media/Getty Images

Xabi Alonso began his reign as Chelsea manager on a positive note as his side defeated London rivals Fulham 3-2 at Craven Cottage on Monday night.

Premier League
Teams: Fulham v Chelsea
Result: 2-3
Scorers: King (23′), García (54′) / Pedro (1′), Rogers (41′), Palmer (49′)

The encounter saw a tale of two friends and former teammates coming up against each other as Alonso began his reign with Chelsea against former Real Madrid interim coach Alvaro Arbeloa.

Thirty seconds was all Chelsea needed to set the tone when Joao Pedro opened the scoring with a lovely dinked finish over Fulham shot-stopper Bernd Leno after he was played in by Cole Palmer’s well-weighted pass.

The hosts showed no signs of sitting back after falling behind and took the game to Chelsea, which resulted in the equaliser on 23 minutes when the lively Josh King weaved his way into the box before firing past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who should have done better.

There will once again be questions surrounding Chelsea’s failure not to bring in a new number one as Sanchez faced a wave of criticism for his errors last season.

However, Chelsea were able to restore their lead minutes before the interval when Palmer once again unlocked the Fulham defence by playing in Maxence Lacroix, who in turn picked out Rogers to slam home from close-range on debut.

The Palmer show continued into the second half when the English attacker got his name on the score-sheet four minutes after the break with a composed finish through the legs of Leno after being teed up by Pedro.

The tempo showed no signs of slowing down and while Chelsea looked like scoring a fourth goal, they remained vulnerable at the back as Fulham pulled a second goal back in the 54th minute when Sanchez parried Timothy Castagne’s shot into the six-yard area, where debutant Gonzalo Garcia was on hand to head home.

Fulham pushed for an equaliser in the latter stages but the Blues defence were well-marshalled to see out the rest of encounter to hand Alonso a winning start in a London derby, while Arbeloa starts his Fulham reign on the losing side.

Key Performer:

Palmer was key to everything good going forward for the Blues as he had a hand in all three goals, which included scoring the third.

Next Three League Fixtures:

Fulham: Sunderland (A), Crystal Palace (H), Tottenham Hotspur (A)

Chelsea: Brighton & Hove Albion (H), Arsenal (A), Hull City (H)

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