Chelsea 1-2 Fulham: Blues stunned as Premier League title hopes take massive dent | OneFootball

The Blues could be seven points behind Liverpool tonight

Chelsea missed the chance to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table after being beaten at home by Fulham in the west London derby.

For a long time, Cole Palmer’s sublime goal in the opening 15 minutes looked to be the difference between the two sides on Boxing Day, but Enzo Maresca’s side conceded twice in the final 10 minutes to lose which means they remain four points behind Liverpool.

Making just one change to the side that started the goalless draw away at Everton before Christmas, the Italian tactician handed an immediate recall to Marc Cucurella following suspension as he replaced Axel Disasi in the Blues’ defence.

The only real moment of quality in the first-half was produced by Palmer as he received the ball from Levi Colwill, wriggled past a couple of challenges before calmly stroking the ball into the back of the net.

Cucurella should have doubled the lead before the break as his header was saved by Bernd Leno before a fantastic block from Calvin Bassey in the final action of the half prevented Palmer from scoring.

Speaking of the Fulham goalkeeper, he produced a magnificent save to keep out Enzo Fernandez’s shot right at the beginning of the second half and moments later Colwill had a goal, correctly, ruled out for offside.

From there, the visitors grew in confidence. Alex Iwobi fired a warning shot with an effort that whistled just past the post before Robert Sanchez rushed off his line to deny Antonee Robinson from close range.

However, when Fulham’s equaliser did arrive, it was no more than they deserved as Harry Wilson managed to divert the ball into the net.

And with seconds remaining on the clock, another substitute in Rodrigo Muniz made an impact as he kept calm to complete the turnaround and secure Fulham’s first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979.