ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Chelsea 1 Fulham 0:CHELSEA HAVE reclaimed some momentum at the Premier League's pinnacle, though rarely can a return to the old routine have felt so horribly disjointed. The champions spluttered their way to another home success here at their local rivals' expense, Michael Essien seeing red in injury time for a two-footed challenge, though Fulham's best efforts to draw level were thwarted by Petr Cech's brilliance at the last.
The goalkeeper’s reward was to equal a club record of nine successive clean sheets here, set in 1927, though Carlo Ancelotti will be conscious this campaign has become a grind. Didier Drogba is still off the pace as he overcomes malaria, Essien will now serve a three-match ban for his challenge on Clint Dempsey, with Frank Lampard’s continued absence felt more and more.
This side’s scintillating football has largely been left back in the early autumn and, had Cech not reacted to deny Zoltan Gera eight minutes from time, so might their perfect home record.
As it is, they will find consolation in the reality that the memory of the loss at Anfield last Sunday has been banished. Not since John Carew scored here for Aston Villa in March have they been breached at Stamford Bridge. Their passing may have been sloppy, their approach too laboured, but they remain impregnable.
This had felt like a test of patience from the opening exchanges, Fulham having set their stall out to frustrate albeit less through crunching tackling and niggling fouls and more by weight of numbers. Danny Murphy would approve.
Simon Davies and Damien Duff were as eager to retreat in support of their full-backs as they were to maraud on the break, Dempsey dropping deep to supplement midfield, with Chelsea’s intent lost in the mishmash for long periods. Indeed, while that tactic worked, Fulham were the more coherent side.
The hosts’ play was rather clogged up, their attempts to raise the tempo invariably suffocated by their opponents’ endeavour. Desperation was setting in, Mark Schwarzer having dealt comfortably with the long-range attempts to which the home side had resorted, when the visitors were undermined at their first lapse in concentration on the half-hour.
Drogba’s tumble in the penalty area, the striker slipping and lying prone on the turf, seemed to act as a distraction. While Fulham dawdled, Salomon Kalou had time to measure a cross unopposed which Essien leapt to convert with ease on the edge of the six-yard box.
The Ghanaian’s display up to then had rather summed up the occasion, a strange blend of anxious, misplaced passes and over-eagerness to impress. This was his return after a toe injury, the midfielder perhaps initially missing Nicolas Anelka – ruled out with a back problem – ahead of him.
A fourth goal of the season eased his nerves though Anelka’s replacement, Kalou, should have extended the lead by the break after racing on to Yuri Zhirkov’s fine pass, only to drag his shot marginally wide of the far post.
That at least was an indication Chelsea were finding their rhythm even if Drogba had laboured. The 32-year-old will complete a course of medication to combat malaria today with his play still understandably blunt at times. He admits to having turned more provider than poacher while he felt the effects of the virus.
“When you know you’re not 100 per cent you have to adapt to the game. It’s better to try to help your team-mates, maybe creating assists, maybe defending a little bit more.”
Aaron Hughes’ block denied him reward after Florent Malouda had chased down Schwarzer’s clearance but, up until then, the striker’s better moments had arguably come in his box, helping to repel Fulham. They were at their best when foraging wide, Matthew Briggs joining Damien Duff up-field to test the right side of Chelsea’s defence.
Cech’s save to deny Dempsey’s volley from 30 yards was stunning, yet the home side were only troubled occasionally.
Kalou might have swollen their lead, wriggling beyond Briggs and Brede Hangeland to slide a shot through Schwarzer’s legs only for Hughes to hack the ball from the goal-line. The Australian goalkeeper was sharper moments later, beating away Malouda’s shot and Essien’s follow-up from distance, with Fulham prepared to risk sustaining further damage as they sought parity.
Guardian Service
CHELSEA:Cech, Bosingwa (Ferreira 88), Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov, Kalou (Sturridge 85), Drogba, Malouda (Ramires 77). Subs not used: Turnbull, Bruma, Kakuta, McEachran. Booked: Essien, Cole.
FULHAM:Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Briggs (Gera 79), Davies, Murphy, Etuhu (Andrew Johnson 61), Duff, Dempsey, Dembele. Subs not used: Stockdale, Pantsil, Eddie Johnson, Dikgacoi, Greening.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
Attendance: 41,593
