This was hardly a turnaround of White Hart Lane proportions, but Chelsea fans will empathise with Glenn Hoddle. Their side were so dominant in the first half that Ken Bates might have been planning his hard-luck letter to Mohamed Al Fayed. Instead, for the third time this season, an interval lead disappeared and three points became one.
As at home to Newcastle and Middlesbrough, Chelsea let a commanding position slip. Ahead yesterday through Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and in such control that they made seven clear first-half chances, they conceded an equaliser to Barry Hayles and never looked like recovering.
Fulham deserve credit for adjusting well after a nervy, disjointed start, but Claudio Ranieri's players will look back on the first SW6 derby for 16 years with great regret. To add to their misery, Slavisa Jokanovic was sent off in the 82nd minute for a second booking when he threw the ball away.
"It's disappointing," Ranieri said of the failure to capitalise on a bright opening. "We have this little problem that we don't concentrate during the whole game. Sometimes the concentration goes down."
Those who expected Fulham to shoot into the Premiership's upper reaches have had to adjust their sights. The potential is there, but they have won only once, at home to Sunderland.
As in a defeat here by Arsenal, they initially appeared inhibited. The passing was far from slick and only Edwin van der Sar's saves and some close shaves kept them in contention.
Once Luis Boa Morte was introduced at half-time to add pace and thrust on the right in a three-man forward line, Fulham began to grasp the initiative.
The chances had come thick and fast for Chelsea before the interval. Controlling midfield and with Gianfranco Zola buzzing around to good effect in a three-strong attack alongside Hasselbaink with Boudewijn Zenden just behind, they streamed forward.
Hasselbaink had already hit the bar when he scored his seventh goal of the season in the 32nd minute. From Zola's header, Zenden pulled clear of the promising 21-year-old Zat Knight and crossed for the Dutchman to take one touch and score. The worry for Chelsea was that Hasselbaink ended the match grimacing from a calf injury.
Either side of the goal Van der Sar distinguished himself, and although Louis Saha had gone close with a header, Fulham seemed destined for defeat. They lacked the width to press Chelsea back, and, as Collins said: "We should have gone in more than 1- 0 down. It gave us a chance to come back."
They took that chance. Steve Finnan, a constant threat going forward, crossed and after Saha's header had hit the post, Hayles scored with a low shot.
Boa Morte did force a save out of Ed de Goey shortly afterwards, but the game drifted before Jokanovic's petulance provoked a red card. The Yugoslav, booked earlier for a foul on Rufus Brevett, seemed hard done by when Graham Poll failed to award him a free-kick for a challenge by Steed Malbranque which had him falling on the ball. But there was no excuse for chucking it away.
FULHAM: Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Melville, Clark (Malbranque 66), Knight, Collins (Marlet 88), Davis, Goldbaek (Boa Morte 45), Saha, Hayles. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Symons. Booked: Davis. Goals: Hayles 56.
CHELSEA: de Goey, Melchiot (Ferrer 80), Babayaro, Terry, Desailly, Petit, Zenden (Dalla Bona 84), Gallas, Jokanovic, Zola (Gudjohnsen 71), Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: Bosnich, Aleksidze. Sent Off: Jokanovic (81). Booked: Terry, Gallas, Jokanovic, Desailly. Goals: Hasselbaink 32.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
