Premier League: Chelsea return to winning ways in style with 2-0 win over Fulham

Chelsea returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a 2-0 win over local rivals Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Chelsea would breathe a sigh of relief with this victory after their unbeaten run in the Premier League was brought to an end by Tottenham last weekend.

An early goal from Spanish forward Pedro put Chelsea ahead but Maurizio Sarri wouldn’t be too happy with what followed as the home side slowly started to lose their footing in the match. But a shaky performance was then met with a goal from substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek who ensured that the former champions walked away with three full points from the match.

French midfielder N’Golo Kante who fell in the line of criticism for his poor show against Spurs created the first goal after he dispossessed Jean Michael Seri in the middle of the pitch and passed the ball to Pedro who unleashed a left-footed strike to help the ball find the far corner of the net. It was Chelsea’s 1,000th goal in the Premier League as they became the third club after Manchester United and Arsenal to reach that mark.

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The hosts further stretched their dominance to the remainder of the first half with Olivier Giroud almost scoring one but Sergio Rico was solid at the goal, coming up with some smart saves to prevent further damage to the scoreline.

In the second half, new Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri, who also had managed the Stamford Bridge side in the past, came up with two substitutions in the form of Floyd Ayite and Aboubakar Kamara for Stefan Johansen and Ryan Sessegnon.

The first half goal pumped in a sense of urgency in the Fulham ranks as they came close twice with defender Calum Chambers being the potential scorer. First, his header was denied by Kepa Arrizabalaga, 10 minutes after the break and then once again the Spanish custodian palmed away a strong shot at goal.

Alvaro Morata, who has blown hot and cold this season wasted a golden opportunity to seal the win when the ball was palmed at his path by Rico off a shot by Eden Hazard. But Loftus-Cheek made sure that Chelsea doubled their lead.

Image credit-Fox Sports