Fulham
Chelsea
Match summary
Chelsea beat Fulham 3-2 on the road. Chelsea led 2-1 at half-time.
In the first half, João Pedro put Chelsea ahead in the first minute, set up by Cole Palmer, Joshua King equalised in the 23rd minute, set up by Timothy Castagne, and Morgan Rogers put Chelsea back in front in the 41st minute, set up by Maxence Lacroix. In the second half, Cole Palmer made it 1-3 in the 49th minute, set up by João Pedro and Gonzalo García pulled one back to make it 2-3 with a header in the 54th minute.
The chances backed that up: Chelsea created 2.61 expected goals (xG) from 18 shots to Fulham's 1.46 from 14.
Fulham dominated territory and possession on matchday one of the Premier League, controlling sixty-two percent of the ball and registering one hundred and fourteen attacks compared to ninety-four for their opponents. Despite superior passing statistics, completing six hundred and thirty-nine passes at an accuracy of eighty-seven percent, and generating fourteen shots to eighteen, Fulham fell short against a clinical Chelsea side. Chelsea created an expected goals figure of 2.61 against Fulham's 1.46. Both teams managed six shots on target, while the match saw five yellow cards distributed across the ninety minutes alongside various tactical and enforced substitutions.
The action began swiftly when João Pedro opened the scoring for Chelsea with a right-footed shot in the first minute. Levi Colwill and Roméo Lavia received yellow cards in the fifth and twelfth minutes respectively before Josh King equalised for Fulham with a right-footed shot in the twenty-third minute. Morgan Rogers restored Chelsea's lead just before the interval with a right-footed shot in the forty-first minute, making the half-time score one to two. Cole Palmer extended the advantage to one to three with a left-footed strike in the forty-ninth minute. Gonzalo García pulled a goal back for Fulham with a header in the fifty-fourth minute, but Chelsea held on through the remaining substitutions and cautions to secure the victory.
