EPL: Fulham vs. Chelsea [1.1.2008]

[Trim]

Game over! Chelsea take three points.

[NJ10]

excellent win for Chelsea. Fulham again let a half time lead slip.

[Dellas]

WE WIN !!!!!!!

2nd half we played so much better. We came out with determination and did the job we needed to do.

SWP + J.Cole played amazingly in the 2nd half.

The minute Sidwell came off we were a different team. Should have had another pen in the 2nd half when the ball hit Stefanovic's hand in the box.

Kalou doesn't stop working and he got his reward

Belletti has an amazing right foot...he upped his game as well in the 2nd half...2 great crosses assisting both goals.

Gd to see the captain () getting a goal.

better 2nd half by the ref.

[Dellas]

Originally Posted by Podolski

I feel sorry for you the amount of injuries you have.. you can get a win in the 2nd half if you're up it just with the quality of ballack, j. cole, essien and get something from a set piece.

Thanks for the GD prediction

what will we do when Kalou, Mikel and Essien leave for the ACN. we will need to buy a cm in the transfer period, along with another striker.

[Dellas]

Roy Hodgson was dealt a cruel blow in his first game in charge of Fulham after Chelsea bounced back from a goal down to win at Craven Cottage.

The home side took the lead when Danny Murphy converted a penalty after Joe Cole had fouled Moritz Volz.

Chelsea equalised after the break when Salomon Kalou nodded in Alex's headed pass from Juliano Belletti's corner.

And Michael Ballack grabbed Chelsea's winner from the spot after he had his shirt pulled by Clint Dempsey.

The Blues, flying high in third, had only lost one fixture against their west London rivals in 28 years.

But Chelsea arrived at Craven Cottage deprived of the services of Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele, John Terry and Petr Cech, which would have given the Fulham faithful and Hodgson the faintest of hopes that they could conjure up small shock.

The new boss opted to start with Diomansy Kamara in place of David Healy, and the former West Brom striker almost gave his struggling side a fantastic start when he found enough space in the area to unleash a low drive that keeper Hilario reacted to brilliantly.

Chelsea's pace often unnerved Fulham's defence, although those in blue deputising for their injured team-mates were guilty of some uncharacteristic wayward passing.

When the Chelsea players were in sync with each other they caused Fulham problems.

One sparkling move saw Cole flick the ball into the path of Kalou who in turn attempted to lift the ball over Antti Niemi, just failing to get enough purchase.

Moments later, the erratic Shaun Wright-Phillips dissected the Fulham defence on the right but rifled his eight-yard angled shot wide of Fulham's right-hand upright.

It was a frantic start to the match which swung the way of Fulham when Volz was adjudged to have been fouled by Cole inside the area.

Referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot and Murphy took on the responsibility of taking the penalty which was fired low past Hilario.

Defeat would have been a massive blow for Chelsea who would have been left six points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.

And for the rest of the first half they gave little indication that they would deny 19th-placed Fulham a vital win, with Fulham's Danny Murphy putting Ballack in the shade in the middle and teenager Elliot Omozusi doing a cracking job at the back.

Avram Grant, with a relatively weak bench, replaced the fairly ineffective Steve Sidwell for John Obi Mikel after the break.

The change in personnel and the tinkering of his 4-3-3 formation seemed to do the trick when Kalou equalised eight minutes into the half.

Belletti swung in a corner to the far post that fellow defender Alex headed back into the six-yard area for Kalou to nod in from close range.

That perked up the Blues whok then took the lead on the hour mark when referee Halsey awarded his second penalty of the day after penalising Dempsey for pulling on Ballack's shirt.

The Germany international composed himself before picking the same spot as Murphy to give Chelsea the advantage.

With the visitors finally looking like the team 16 places above Fulham, it was now the home side desperately looking to salvage something from the game.

But alas, Fulham could not break through Chelsea's defence and Hodgson was re-introduced to the harsh realities of the Premier League.

source: BBC SPORT | Football | Premier League | Fulham 1-2 Chelsea

* forgot to say that Essien seemed like his old self in the 2nd half.

Ballack motm.

[Sven]

I would sleep with Ballack, now if only we had him for the two games in CL against Liverpool last year.

WHAT IF.

good, expected win.

[oxfordblues]

no cech terry carvalho lampard drogba,the chelsea backbone ,& there still only looked like one winner