Chelsea bounce back from Spurs defeat to sweep aside Fulham in west London derby
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Your support makes all the difference.Goals in each half from Spain's Pedro and homegrown midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek earned Chelsea a 2-0 win over southwest London rivals Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
N'Golo Kante dispossessed Jean Michael Seri in the middle of the pitch in the fourth minute and sent a perfectly-weighted pass to Pedro who stepped inside and fired low with his left foot into the bottom corner.
Chelsea buzzed round their neighbours' goal for the rest of the half without finding a way through and bottom club Fulham, who won their first game under former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri last week, grew in confidence in the second half.
Fulham earned their best chances through the lively Calum Chambers who forced Kepa Arrizabalaga into two diving saves.
Yet their hopes were snuffed out in the 82nd minute when Eden Hazard fed substitute Loftus-Cheek and the England midfielder knocked the ball home.
The result lifted Chelsea above Tottenham Hotspur, who inflicted a first defeat of the season on Chelsea last week, and into third in the Premier League -- at least until the Arsenal-Tottenham derby later on Sunday.
Reuters
Re-live the action:
Chelsea 1-0 Fulham
Pedro's early goal is all that's separating these two in the West London Derby.
Fulham started brightly but were knocked by Chelsea with Kante proving key to their lead.
The Blues have since been in most control but Fulham are showing that they're no pushovers under Claudio Ranieri and with only one goal in it, there's all to play for in the second half.
Intriguing decisions from Claudio Ranieri as Sessegnon and Johansen are replaced by Kamara and Ayite.
Can they provide the spark that Fulham need?
And of course, those subs mean we're back underway here at Stamford Bridge.
46 mins: CHANCE
Half chance really for Fulham as Seri dinks a delightful ball into the path of Mitrovic who takes it down but can't make room for the shot.
He bulldozes his way through the defenders but too much so for the referee's liking and he blows up for the foul on Rudiger.
52 mins: This game is crying out for a bit more tempo.
The cameras pan to Ruben Loftus Cheek...
53 mins: BLIMEY!
Christie's cross into the box is dealt with by Rudiger but only just!
The German defender's sliced clearance only misses the goal by inches.
54 mins: CHANCE FULHAM!
The resulting corner leads to Fulham's biggest chance of the game so far as Callum Chambers rises highest to meet the corner.
His powerful header, sadly for him, is straight down the throat of Kepa and Chelsea just about scramble it clear after that.
58 mins: Steely play from N'golo Kante wins Chelsea a free-kick in a dangerous position.
They'd really like a second goal for a bit of breathing space.
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