Chelsea enjoy confidence boosting night of unexpected firsts in win over Fulham
It was a night of unexpected firsts for Chelsea - as Mauricio Pochettino's new-look Blues appear to be taking shape.
Mykhaylo Mudryk scored his first goal for the club since his £89million move in January to end the club's Premier League drought with their first goal in 303 minutes. Armando Broja also got in on the act as he scored his first goal in a year after missing so much of the past 12 months through injury with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Incredibly, the victory against Fulham was also Chelsea's first away win since May but still not enough to lift them into the top half of the table. Yet after such a sluggish start to the season under Pochettino, Chelsea are ready to take any positive that comes their way - and there were plenty in a one-sided derby at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea, amid a huge injury list and raft of new signings, finally look as if they have a shape and identity as well as looking dangerous in attack and finding the net.
Perhaps it was always tempting fate when one pizza chain put an advert on the side of a truck outside Craven Cottage bragging about how many millions of pizzas they had sold since Chelsea had last scored a Premier League goal.
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Chelsea had gone through the whole of September without finding the net in the Premier League, and the travelling fans probably did not have too much hope with Raheem Sterling only on the bench after illness and Nicolas Jackson suspended.
It looked like it was going to be another one of those nights at first for Chelsea as Broja and then Mudryk blasted big chances horribly over the bar. But that changed for Chelsea in the 18th minute with two goals in the space of 82 seconds. They had waited so long for one goal and then two come along almost at once.
Moises Caicedo looked up in central midfield, spread the ball wide to Levi Colwill and his lovely ball went over Issa Diop, Mudryk controlled it brilliantly on his chest before beating Fulham keeper Bernd Leno with a wonderful finish.
Mykhaylo Mudryk scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea on Monday night (Getty Images)What did you make of Chelsea's display against Fulham? Let us know in the comments below!
You could see the warmth from the Chelsea players as they mobbed the scorer after his torturous first nine months at Stamford Bridge. What a moment for him.
Before Fulham could catch their breath it was two - and this time it all stemmed from a horrible mix-up at the back. Leno passed it out to to Tim Ream and the Fulham captain gave it straight to Cole Palmer and the Chelsea forward played in Broja. Ream stepped across to clear, only succeeded in playing the ball off Broja and the ball deflected into the net.
Fulham, apart from the outstanding Joao Palhinha in midfield, looked well off the pace and were booed off at half-time. Mudryk went off at the break, Broja did not last the second half either, but it was still Chelsea who came closest to another goal.
Substitute Ian Maatsen, on for Mudryk, hit the inside of the post before Enzo Fernandez's follow-up shot was blocked by Leno. Fulham did get better as Marco Silva rang the changes, but substitute Sasa Lukic saw his shot saved at point blank range by Robert Sanchez. Chelsea look to be on the up while Fulham’s biggest problem remains a lack of firepower.
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