Chelsea vs Fulham LIVE: Premier League result and final score as Blues held to goalless draw
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham: Graham Potter’s side were held by the well-organised visitors as January’s record-breaking spending failed to lead to attacking inspiration
Enzo Fernandez’s Chelsea debut ended in anti-climax as Fulham earned a worthy 0-0 draw against Graham Potter’s side at Stamford Bridge.
The hosts’ £106.5million deadline day signing was kept largely subdued as Potter’s team failed to substantially improve upon their mid-table Premier League position and saw their indifferent form extend to one win in six in the competition.
Fulham proved it is not necessary to spend in excess of £500m to sit in the upper reaches of the top flight, with Marco Silva’s well-drilled team making the hosts look toothless at times at the end of a week in which they broke the British transfer record to land World Cup-winner Fernandez.
It leaves Chelsea stranded in ninth and already struggling to hold on to the optimism generated by owner Todd Boehly’s whirlwind £315m investment during the January transfer window.
Follow all the action as Chelsea host Fulham at Stamford Bridge:
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
33 mins: Close! Chelsea break and pick out Mason Mount in space. He carries the ball into the left side of the box and quickly squares it over towards Kai Havertz.
Tim Ream sticks out a leg and gets a slight deflection which moves the ball away from Havertz and causes him to lift it over the crossbar!
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
30 mins: Some of the pre-match talk was about how Thiago Silva would deal with crosses coming in towards Aleksandar Mitrovic. Fulham have had more success - and have scored more goals - than any other team in the Premier League from crosses this season.
So far, Thiago Silva has won every ball. He’s just a top quality centre-back isn’t he?
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
27 mins: Save! Fulham sweep down the right and get the ball to Joao Palhinha. He spins and slips the ball inside to Andreas Pereira just inside the penalty area.
He controls the ball and shoots on the turn, striking a wonderful effort at goal. Kepa Arrizabalaga spies it early and leaps to his right, getting a strong hand to the ball and pushing it wide of the post.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
24 mins: Hakim Ziyech swings a corner ball into the middle of the box for Chelsea but Tim Ream gets up early and nods the ball away.
It drops to Conor Gallagher who guides it back over to Ziyech but he’s flagged offside.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
21 mins: Close! Fulham almost find a way through with a finely weighted pass up to Aleksandar Mitrovic. The forward doesn’t gather the ball correctly though and can’t kick on in behind the Chelsea defence.
Instead Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile close him down and recover the ball for the home side.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
18 mins: Fulham are nicely drilled in defensive and are keeping their shape compact moving across the pitch as one unit. It’s tricky for Chelsea to break down.
They resort to giving the ball to Thiago Silva. He flicks a long ball over the top and picks out Kai Havertz who turns it towards goal only to be denied by Bernd Leno.
The offside flag goes up so it wouldn’t have counted anyway.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
15 mins: Chelsea can’t find an easy path through the centre of the pitch with Enzo Fernandez well marked by Fulham. They switch the play out to Hakim Ziyech on the right and the winger whips the ball into the penalty area.
Myhailo Mudryk is hovering on the far side of the box but Bernd Leno sprints out and plucks the ball off his nose.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
12 mins: Aleksandar Mitrovic and Enzo Fernandez have a bit of a tussle in the box as Fulham play a free kick short. Mitrovic isn’t happy about all the grappling but the cross never comes into the box as it gets charged down but the Blues.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
9 mins: Close! Chelsea intercept the ball in midfield and Mason Mount sends it up to Kai Havertz who shifts it back to Mount it a swift one-two.
Mount threads a pass up to Mudryk but Kenny Tete leaps across and pokes the ball away with a perfectly timed lunge. Fulham were in trouble if he missed the ball there.
Chelsea are moving it around nicely. They’re growing into the game well.
Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
6 mins: Antonee Robinson gets his first opportunity to get forward down the wing for Fulham. He receives the ball out wide and puts on a spurt to take it past Hakim Ziyech’s half-hearted attempt at a tackle.
Robinson then cuts inside of Reece James but overhits the ball and can’t stop it from crossing the byline. Decent run from the left-back though.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments