A West London side who have belied all the legitimate doom and gloom surrounding their recent transfer activity, who could seriously be capable of achieving a lofty finish that few would have expected at the start of the season. But enough about Fulham. Their 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge taught us little about Marco Silva’s side that the previous 17 had not. This is not a team that England’s best players can afford to take lightly, especially when they have such game-changers coming off the bench against tired legs.
Instead, this football was must-watch for many who saw Chelsea’s place in the title race as unquestionable. Enzo Maresca wouldn’t count himself among that group and from the final eight minutes plus extra time you could see why. As impressive as this team has been so often in recent months – a side that at its best is clearly worthy of being at the top of the table – there is a vulnerability in this team that demands the most devastating of actions. of attacks to alleviate.
Suspected Premier League champions have wingers rising to defend again when Antonee Robinson and Alex Iwobi have left them in the dust, with the former hanging a dangerous cross to the back post that was tipped back towards goal by fellow defender Timothy Castagne. That the two full-backs both attacked the Stamford Bridge area is testament to the pressure Fulham exerted on the opposition’s territory, even when up against the best of attacks. However, Chelsea had six men back to defend the quartet that attacked Robinson’s cross. No one seemed to see Harry Wilson, who slid behind them all to fire home the equalizer.
Chelsea’s quest for parity never really took off, while Fulham felt there was more in it for them, the chance to draw level with the champions now that the season is halfway through. Marc Cucurella was taken out of a counter too easily through midfield, but the hosts still had just enough bodies back. However, none of them were in the right place. A five-on-five really can’t end with Sasa Lukic simply rolling the ball into the penalty area for Rodrigo Muniz to roll home.
Neither goal was the result of a particularly disastrous mistake by any individual. There was also no one particularly absent from an attacking display that disappeared after Cole Palmer’s 26th Premier League goal in 2024, the highest ever by a Chelsea player in a calendar year. Rather, this was a young team guilty of what so many young, recently formed teams are: a bit of sloppiness, a slight over-reliance on individuals, an inability to remain silent when necessary.
That latest failure will surely hurt them again before the season is over. With eighteen games played, Chelsea still haven’t held a team under ten shots. They concede almost half the expected goal more than Liverpool and Arsenal. If that fails, there may be more matches like this Boxing Day. Keep doing that and the wheels will fall off the title wagon. But Maresca has known that for a while.