Effectively, the place did that come from?
Trying set to keep up their rampant momentum within the bid to safe an unlikely Premier League title, high-flying Chelsea slipped up in dramatic circumstances at dwelling to Fulham on Thursday afternoon, with the guests in the end working out shock 2-1 winners on Boxing Day.
One other routine victory towards a aspect who hadn’t received at Stamford Bridge since 1979 appeared to be on the playing cards as Cole Palmer waltzed his method by means of for the opener, with a deserved second later chalked off as Levi Colwill was accurately dominated offside.
That reprieve seemingly helped spark the Cottagers into life within the closing levels as supersub Harry Wilson nodded dwelling on the 82nd-minute mark, earlier than some slack Chelsea defending allowed Rodrigo Muniz to transform on the loss of life to seal all three factors for Marco Silva’s males.
That last-gasp collapse will little question sting for Blues boss Enzo Maresca, with the Italian coach left to mirror on some notable combined performances from the house aspect.
Chelsea’s greatest & worst performers vs Fulham
We’ll come on to the negatives shortly, however in a constructive sense, there’s just one place to begin – Palmer.
Chelsea’s Mr Dependable chalked up his 12th league goal of the season in some type to assist kickstart proceedings on the Bridge, the England worldwide slotting dwelling in his trademark, composed style after a pleasant jinking run.
That solo purpose ensures the 22-year-old now boasts a ridiculous tally of 37 goals and 21 assists in simply 65 video games for the west London aspect, with Manchester Metropolis’s resolution to let him go searching ever extra head-scratching with every passing sport.
On the flip aspect, Palmer was not precisely helped by the remainder of his attacking colleagues, with Jadon Sancho failing to supply a single key go, as per Sofascore, whereas Pedro Neto was additionally culpable at each ends of the pitch, as his ‘finish product was considerably disappointing’, within the phrases of Express journalist Joe Krishnan.
Defensively, the Portuguese speedster was additionally discovered wanting for Fulham’s opener, with the previous Wolves man far too simply brushed apart by the advancing Alex Iwobi, whereas relatively embarrassingly persevering with to roll round clutching his face because the assault developed.
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Pedro Neto’s stats vs Fulham |
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90 minutes |
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40 touches |
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85% go accuracy |
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1 key go |
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1/3 crosses |
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1/2 lengthy balls |
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1/2 dribbles |
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5/10 floor duels received |
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9x possession misplaced |
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3x dribbled previous |
There could supporters fairly why the winger wasn’t withdrawn amid the wealth of Maresca’s choices, with the identical maybe additionally true of his right-sided teammate, Malo Gusto.
Malo Gusto’s show vs Fulham
It have to be mentioned that Gusto wasn’t the one member of the backline to have underwhelmed on Thursday afternoon, though the Frenchman should shoulder a big a part of the blame for his function in Muniz’s winner.
The previous Lyon defender failed to trace his man as Fulham countered in stoppage time, exhibiting a restricted need to attempt to get again into place because the opposition queued as much as convert on the again put up.
Not solely was the 21-year-old culpable in that second, however he additionally struggled, on the entire, up towards the full of life Antonee Robinson, having been dribbled previous one event while additionally shedding the ball 11 occasions.
There was little pleasure in an attacking sense both as Gusto failed to finish a single cross and efficiently accomplished simply one in all his 4 lengthy ball makes an attempt, with just one key go created too from his 78 touches.
Amid these woes, it does beg the query of fairly why Maresca – who solely used one substitute in complete – didn’t exchange the right-back within the second half, significantly with promising teenager Josh Achaempong amongst these ready within the wings.
Performance in Numbers
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That was definitely the decision of journalist Tom Overend who urged that Gusto “needed to go“, with the aforementioned Krishnan awarding him a measly 4/10 match ranking.
Maresca’s resolution to not utilise his bench is a perplexing one contemplating the frantic nature of the festive schedule, with Chelsea left to rue a outcome that arms even additional management to league leaders Liverpool within the title race.
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