Posted on: Wed 10 Nov 2010
Michael Essien made the headlines from the SW6 derby as he scored the only goal but received a straight-red-card sending off in stoppage time.On balance over the whole 90 minutes it was a game Chelsea clearly deserved to win but having created little for the first half-hour, after the goal a flood of chances were spurned before Fulham rallied and tested Petr Cech. There were nervous moments before the three points were secured.
No-one epitomised the performance more than Salomon Kalou who had many moments of quality but was the chief culprit when it came to not putting the ball in the net.
Nicolas Anelka and Alex were ruled out before kick-off but Didier Drogba started. He didn't look like a man drained by illness but has had many better games, and there was another important return to the team.
Everyone inside Stamford Bridge cheering Chelsea on will have been pleased to see Essien back on board. His fourth goal of the season was scored with his freshly-shorn head. His third headed of goal of the season, it came on 30 minutes.
After two games out the Ghanaian was involved early on, with one deflected cross and one deflected shot that Schwarzer fumbled out for a corner.
Chelsea appealed against another fumble, a handball by Damien Duff deep in the Fulham half after 10 minutes, but referee Martin Atkinson disagreed.
Three minutes later Mikel flighted a very promising ball into the area but Schwarzer's gloves just beat Kalou's boot in the race to make contact.
No slow start this time by Chelsea who had the Cottagers pinned back. The first shot on target was by the visitors however - from Briggs, the 19-year-old playing left back, but it was never likely to trouble Cech. Almost instantly Mikel had a go for the Blues, one with more sting but too straight and Schwarzer picked it out the air.
On 28 minutes, Drogba warmed the hands of the Australian with a dipping free-kick from out wide. Fulham struggled to clear and conceded another free kick out wide. Again the lines were only half cleared and when Kalou delivered the perfect cross to the far post it wasn't Drogba on the end of it - he was on floor after an earlier challenge - it was Essien, thumping the ball into the bottom corner with his forehead.
Kalou could have found the net himself five minutes before the break. Malouda, who had a minute earlier shot on target, crossed and the Ivorian's hurried half-volley was scooped over. He went a whole lot closer a minute later when shooting a foot wide after out-running the defence following a well-judged Zhirkov pass.
A hat-trick of missed chances for the 25-year-old was completed just before the break when he couldn't quite connect to a Malouda cross at the near post. Just before the whistle Cole attacked the defence and tangled with Hangeland in the box but despite appeals it was a fair tackle.
It had been a Chelsea half of possession that hadn't been converted into the chances to match until that late flourish.
Essien was booked for a foot-up foul in the centre circle shortly after the restart. Referee Atkinson had been lenient on some questionable Fulham challenges in the first half.
On 54 minutes the story of Kalou's game continued when he ran at the heart of the Fulham defence, eased his way past the colossus that is Hangeland and shot through Schwarzer but with a deflection that slowed the ball. Hughes cleared off the line.
The same defender then stopped a goal when Drogba's shot hit him with Schwarzer nowhere. The keeper had dithered in dealing with a ball back and Malouda nipped into liberate possession for his team-mate's shot.
Schwarzer was in position to beat out a Malouda volley moments later, he then saved from Drogba and when Ivanovic returned the ball low, Essien turned it wide from three yards out. The failure to add a second was now verging on the comical.
The sucker punch was there to be landed and it would have been had it not been for the excellence of Cech, called into action properly for the first time on 71 minutes.
Dempsey it was who found the space to unleash a shot from outside the area and it was dipping under the bar until the Czech's arm raised to tip over.
Cole was booked for a foul on Duff, the game's second yellow, shortly before the first Chelsea change. Ramires was introduced for Malouda with Zhirkov moving into the front three.
The biggest problem for the Blues was that Fulham were only a goal away from taking something from the game and Terry's 81st minute headed clearance was rocketed back at Cech by substitute Gera's volley. The keeper saved well for a second time.
Sturridge was introduced for Kalou with five minutes to play, followed by Ferreira for Bosingwa who had just recovered from an elbow in the forehead from Dempsey.
Fulham score late goals but even with four minutes stoppage time played, they were denied further pops at the Chelsea target, not least due to some determined Terry defending.
Seconds from the end came the Essien dismissal that will see him miss three games. A loose ball fell between the Chelsea man and Dempsey, he jumped down on the ball but it was two-footed and deemed reckless enough by the ref for the game to end on a sour note.
Despite that, the Fulham wait for a win at Stamford Bridge extends into a fourth decade as Chelsea stay top of the league.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Bosingwa (Ferreira 88), Ivanovic, Terry (c) Cole; Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov; Kalou (Sturridge 85), Drogba, Malouda (Ramires 77).
Unused subs Turnbull, Bruma, McEachran, Kakuta.Scorer Essien 30
Sent-off Essien 90+3
Booked Essien 49. Cole 75.
Fulham (4-4-2):Schwarzer; Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland, Briggs (Gera 78); Davies, Murphy (c), Etuhu (A Johnson 61), Duff; Dempsey, Dembele.
Unused subs: Stockdale, Paintsil, Greening, Dikgacoi, E Johnson.
Referee Martin Atkinson
Crowd 41,593.
Shots on Chelsea 10 Fulham 3
Corners Chelsea 4 Fulham 4
Fouls Chelsea 14 Fulham 15
Offsides Chelsea 2 Fulham 2
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