Chelsea bagged two first-half goals to seal a crucial win over Fulham at Craven Cottage and move up to 11th in the Premier League on Monday.
The Blues flew out of the blocks as they debuted their new Infinite Athlete kit and created the first chance after only 80 seconds, but Armando Broja could not capitalise.
Chelsea looked bright with Enzo Fernandez conducting affairs, and they picked the Cottagers apart.
Mykhailo Mudryk was looking electric and dangerous. The Ukrainian winger opened the scoring after 18 minutes as he controlled a pass from Levi Colwill before slotting the ball beyond Bernd Leno.
It was Mudryk’s first Premier League goal following his £88 million move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January. And, within seconds, Chelsea had their second.
Tim Ream had a moment to forget as he gave the ball away to Cole Palmer. The young English playmaker then slipped Broja in, but Ream hit the ball off the Albanian striker as the ball trickled past Leno.
Fulham tried to find gaps behind Marc Cucurella and Axel Disasi on the right side of Chelsea’s defence, but it was not working. Chelsea controlled the game and held their two-goal going into the break.
Fulham came out with more attacking poise in the second half. Mudryk went off with a knock, giving Fulham the impetus to come forward, but Chelsea’s defence stood resolute.
Vinicius and Alex Iwobi came on for Fulham and helped their side find spaces beyond Chelsea’s backline, but the Blues defended well and showed they were still dangerous.
Ian Maatsen, on for Mudryk, hit the post, and Leno had to be quick to smother Fernandez’s rebound effort. Fulham forced Chelsea to work for their lead, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side looked up to the task.
Substitute Tom Cairney created a lovely chance for Sasa Lukic. However, Robert Sanchez stuck out a brilliant leg to save the effort and keep his side in it.
Willian tried an effort from outside the box late in the game, but it did not cause any problems for Sanchez as Chelsea ran out 2-0 victors.
