Chelsea vs Fulham (2-0): Match Review

Second half: As it happened

Mitrovic gave his best but was left largely isolated

Ryan Sessegnon, the talented teenager, was substituted at halftime due to tactical reasons and his inability to assert himself in the first half. Kamara replaced him in order to provide more defensive work rate down the flanks. Pedro, the game's only scorer, was presented with another opportunity early on in the second half but it ended up only as a shot on target.

Fulham came close to equalizing after Rudiger cleared Christie's menacing cross. The visitors again came close with the following corner soon after as Callum Chambers forced a reflex save from Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa.

The referee was also forced to shell out his first yellow card of the match to Fulham defender Odoi after clearing out Pedro with a high boot following Kepa's save from the corner.

This event was followed by a small spell of dominance Claudio Ranieri's team. The Italian head coach's pillar of his Leicester City's title-winning team, N'Golo Kanté, won a free kick from a promising position for Chelsea, and the opportunity ended up with a tame effort by Marcos Alonso, which was easily saved by the Fulham keeper.

Normal service for Chelsea soon resumed with dominance in possession, with Eden Hazard often proving a nuisance for the opposition defenders by winning freekicks for his team. Maurizio Sarri however, did not cut a happy figure as his team were often unable to produce incisive passing, the characteristic feature of "Sarriball".

Calum Chambers was presented with more than a couple of decent scoring chances

Calum Chambers, who saw himself at the end of more than a couple of decent opportunities forced another save from Kepa after being set up by the Fulham midfielder Cairney. At the 67th minute, Ruben Loftus-Cheek replaced Mateo Kovacic after the Croatian picked up a knock. The youngster got the opportunity to feature after Ross Barkley also got injured in the build-up to the match.

Cesar Azpilicueta was at the receiving end of Chelsea's first yellow card for his foul against Cairney, who was threatening with a Fulham counter-attack. Alvaro Morata, the substitute replacing Olivier Giroud, missed a sitter after an Eden Hazard shot was saved by Sergio Rico.

Fulham were running out of time with the score being 1-0 at 75 minutes. The Fulham boss put on Kebano in place of Cairney in search of the equalizer. Marcos Alonso, on the other hand, was replaced by Davide Zappacosta.

Eden Hazard set up Chelsea's second goal of the match at the 82nd minute. After a combination of short passes near the edge of the box at the left-hand side, the mercurial Belgian tied up Loftus-Cheek, who blasted home past Rico. The substitute continued his claim for a first-team spot under Maurizio Sarri.

Chelsea celebrate their second goal

Fulham looked deflated after Loftus-Cheek's goal and failed to threaten the scoreline further. The visitors, however, continued to look for a goal, but there was always a lingering threat of a counterattack from the Blues.

The Cottagers did manage to earn a corner during the stoppage time which was hopefully flicked on by De Marchand, but no one was there to head it in. This passage of play summed up Fulham's performance in the match: plenty of willingness but no end product.

Maurizio Sarri might not be a happy man today but his team was able to grind out a result and should happily take the three points and solidify their third position at the top of the table.