Blues lose derby in front of Rosenior

Chelsea‘s first game since the appointment of Liam Rosenior as manager ended in defeat as a late Harry Wilson goal gave Fulham a 2-1 victory in the West London derby.

Rosenior watched from the stands at Craven Cottage after being confirmed as Enzo Maresca’s successor, and will take the positives from the resilience they displayed after going a man down and a goal down.

Marc Cucurella’s dismissal in the 22nd minute drastically altered whatever plan interim boss Calum McFarlane had in mind, and when Raul Jimenez headed Fulham in front 10 minutes into the second half they were given a mountain to climb.

It looked as if they had rescued something from the situation after Liam Delap levelled with his first Premier League goal for the Blues.

But Wilson dashed Chelsea’s hopes of claiming a point nine minutes from the end of normal time with his seventh league goal of the campaign.

Cucurella sees red

Enzo Fernandez’s set-piece delivery from corners caused havoc for Fulham in the opening stages, with Bernd Leno forced to nervily clear one goal-bound in-swinging cross, before Andrey Santos headed against the crossbar from point-blank range as he met another brilliant ball into the box.

Yet the game took a huge turn in Fulham’s favour when a long punt forward from Leno proved Cucurella’s undoing, the Spaniard hauling down Harry Wilson in a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, with the only saving grace for Chelsea being that the foul was deemed not have continued into the box.

Tosin Adarabioyo, Fernandez and Cole Palmer were all booked for their complaints in the aftermath, with Fulham boss Marco Silva also cautioned amid the fallout, a yellow that means he will watch their next game from the stands.

Santos was replaced by Jorrel Hato to plug the gap left in defence left by Cucurella’s dismissal, and Chelsea succeeded in frustrating Fulham for much of the first half despite their numerical personnel disadvantage.

It appeared as if Fulham had broken them down when Harry Wilson fired home from just inside the area in first-half stoppage time, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside following a VAR check.

Wilson breaks Chelsea hearts

Yet Fulham continued in the ascendancy and, after Wilson saw an effort deflected narrowly wide, they broke the deadlock as Jimenez rose to meet Sander Berge’s delivery with a header that proved too powerful for Sanchez to prevent it from nestling in the bottom-right corner. 

Kevin went close to doubling the Fulham lead with an ambitious long-range effort, but they received a warning when Delap was sent through on goal, only for Bernd Leno to prove equal to his effort. 

Moises Caicedo and Palmer then tested Leno before Fulham were pegged back as Delap broke his Premier League duck for Chelsea, hooking home after another Fernandez corner ended up striking the woodwork.

Fulham, however, were undeterred by that setback and it fittingly fell to Wilson to settle the contest in style, the Welshman demonstrating superb control to collect the rebound after Robert Sanchez repelled Emile Smith-Rowe’s pullback before firing a half-volley through the legs of Reece James and beyond the Chelsea goalkeeper.