And read our report from Craven Cottage:
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Do join Rob Smyth for the Merseyside derby:
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Full-time: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
They made a meal of it at times, but Maurizio Sarri’s side – just about – get the job done at Craven Cottage. First-half goals by Higuaín and Jorginho ultimately ensure consecutive wins for Chelsea. Willian did not score but was magnificent for Chelsea, a constant outlet, while Eden Hazard showed shades of class before being withdrawn with 20 minutes to play. As for Fulham, they remain 10 points adrift of safety with nine games to play. It was hardly a Scott Parker revolution but his team showed plenty of fight and a little guile in the attacking third. Tom Cairney was among the Fulham players that benefited from more clarity. They looked considerably better organised, though still frail defensively.
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90+4 min: Sessegnon slots home ... but it won’t count! A hit-and-hope ball by Tim Ream is flicked on by Vietto, who inadvertently ends up playing in Sessegnon after bumping into Rudiger. The finish is naturally neat, but the linesman has his flag up. And Parker can only bite his tongue in frustration.
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90+2 min: Anguissa upends Willian, who takes a whack from the Fulham substitute. It was a challenge that had the makings of a dead leg. That will take up a few more seconds for Chelsea, who are very nearly there.
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90 min: There will be five added minutes.
88 min: A superb save by Kepa denies Mitrovic! Floyd Ayite stretches the Chelsea defence to latch on to a high ball over the top and the Fulham substitute does impeccably to hook it into the path of an on-running Mitrovic. The striker glances a header goalwards, but Kepa – who read Ayite’s pass – is equal to it, getting a strong left hand on Mitrovic’s effort to keep Chelsea in front.
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87 min: Chelsea win a soft free-kick as Chambers gnaws away at Loftus-Cheek. Time is ticking if Fulham are to rescue anything out of this one.
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86 min: Loftus-Cheek goes on a mazy run into the box, but eventually gets crowded out. He was guilty of overplaying there.
85 min: More brilliant work by Willian sets Emerson on his way on the overlap. The full-back’s cross whizzes across goal and, for a moment it looks as though Bryan might end up putting the ball past his own goalkeeper, but the Fulham defender does well to clear his lines with Pedro lurking. Hazard was lively until being substituted, but Willian has been Chelsea’s spark throughout.
82 min: Chambers does well to avert danger, with Willian bombing down the left flank after a powerful run by Loftus-Cheek. It all came via Emerson winning a 50-50 with Odoi deep inside Chelsea’s half. And now Maurizio Sarri is bobbing up and down on the touchline, as Chelsea look to eke this one out.
80 min: Tom Cairney departs to a hearty ovation, with the Fulham skipper handing over the armband to Mitrovic as Luciano Vietto enters.
78 min: Nice try, but Higuaín’s give-and-go with Ross Barkley is cut out by Tim Ream. And that’s Barkley’s final contribution, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek on in his place. Loftus-Cheek scored off the bench in the reverse fixture this season.
75 min: Willian has been a brilliant outlet for Chelsea all afternoon. He is played in again, this time down the left forcing Odoi to intervene. Chelsea win the corner but it is poor and Fulham turnover possession after Anguissa is fouled.
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74 min: Kepa has a goal-kick, and a prime opportunity for Chelsea to regain the control they have lost. But the goalkeeper blasts his kick straight out of play, to up the ante on his own team. Chelsea look very anxious and Fulham know it. The hosts are dominating possession, without yet restoring parity.
73 min: Hazard is replaced by Pedro.
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71 min: Bryan bends a shot at goal from distance, but Kepa is equal to it. Fulham are taking the game to Chelsea, who are having to weather the storm.
70 min: Ryan Babel is replaced by Floyd Ayite. Usually drink, usually dance ... usually Babel.
69 min: And now Joe Bryan has a little nibble at Willian, with a late challenge on the Brazilian causing a few handbags, but nothing more. Sarri was incensed, but was desperate for Willian to keep his cool. He did.
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69 min: Anguissa makes his mark, unmercifully hauling down Willian on halfway. Chelsea need to just calm things down and stem the Fulham flow.
68 min: Jorginho is withdrawn by Sarri. Mateo Kovacic is on.
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66 min: A couple of smart stops by Kepa, first from Cairney and then Sessegnon. Chelsea need to grind through the gears, with the visitors struggling to contain a Fulham side that suddenly fancy themselves at getting something here. Bryan wins a corner out of Willian, but Mitrovic – with both Christensen and Kante for company – cannot steer his header goalwards.
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64 min: Rüdiger slides in to prevent Sessegnon’s ball in from the right from reaching Mitrovic. Sarri must be pondering a change or two. Chelsea have gone a little stale in the last few minutes.
63 min: Fulham are playing some nice stuff; Cairney tries to work the ball down the left after controlling Bryan’s throw-in, but Willian nips in to intercept. The Brazilian’s been ubiquitous.
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62 min: Andre-Frank Anguissa replaces Kevin McDonald, who was already on a booking. That seems a sensible decision by Scott Parker. Anguissa has underwhelmed since arriving for £25m last summer.
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61 min: Jorginho is booked for sliding in on Sessegnon.
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59 min: Babel comes alive off the left and, though he is unable to cleanly thread through Mitrovic, the Serbia striker does well to carve out an opening. He ends up smashing the ball just over Kepa’s bar, but it was a nice try. And that comes just after another move where Chelsea had Fulham on the ropes. Sarri’s side could really do with taking one of those hatful of their chances.
58 min: Chelsea attempt to turn the screw, with Hazard stopping and then steamrollering past Dennis Odoi before lashing a dangerous ball across goal. His quick-thinking was not matched by his Chelsea team-mates, though, with Higuaín failing to get on the end of his cross.
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56 min: Ross Barkley shields off Ryan Sessegnon to keep Chelsea moving in the right direction. He has kept things ticking over nicely, while Jorginho has also impressed in midfield.
54 min: Higuaín pressures Havard Nordtveit into conceding a throw-in deep inside their own half. Chelsea have outwitted Fulham time and again at the back.
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52 min: And now Willian hammers into the side-netting after Joe Bryan gets caught ball-watching. It feels like a matter of time until Chelsea increase their lead. Every time they flood forward, Fulham look decidedly frail. Chelsea then win a corner as Kanté’s cross pings off Ream’s arm from millimetres away but Fulham themselves win a free-kick to earn some respite.
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51 min: Willian skirts away from Kevin McDonald and the referee’s not happy with the Fulham midfielder. McDonald picks up a yellow card, but the reality is that Chelsea have been just too clever.
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49 min: Rico fumbles Willian’s low effort from the angle, but Fulham then break through Cairney on halfway. Chelsea have been largely untroubled defensively.
48 min: Chambers wraps his left boot around the ball, swinging in a cross in search of Mitrovic but that’s meat and drink for Kepa in the Chelsea goal.
47 min: Hazard has Emerson for company but opts to bend an effort at goal, though Rico easily gathers. It was a bit of a daisy-cutter, by Hazard’s standards at least.
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46 min: Chelsea are straight into the ascendency, with Higuaín driving through with Joe Bryan clawing back at the striker. Eventually, it’s cleared but only as far as Kanté, though the ball ends up cannoning off him for a Fulham throw-in. Neither side have made personnel changes, but Babel has swapped flanks with Sessegnon, with the teenager moving to the right-hand side.
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46 min: Higuaín gets the, er, SW6 derby back under way.
Before the restart, some half-time reading:
Half-time: Fulham 1-2 Chelsea
Maurizio Sarri’s side lead by a single goal at the interval, though they should be out of sight. Goals by Higuaín and Jorginho either side of Calum Chambers’s equaliser give Chelsea the advantage. Fulham have threatened going forward but look extremely susceptible in defence, particularly in wide areas. And, it must be said, after having a shocker at Southampton in midweek, Sergio Rico has been very alert in the Fulham goal to keep the score down.
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45+1 min: Another smart stop by Rico! This time the Fulham goalkeeper denies Higuaín with an instinctive save at his front post. It was the fruits of more good work by Chelsea down the right, as Azpilicueta bypassed Sessegnon after Willian held the ball up well. Fulham have been exposed a few times by Chelsea’s overloads, none more than Higuaín’s 20th-minute opener.
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45 min: There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Fulham fail to make the most of a free-kick 35-odd yards from goal. In fact, to make matters worse, Graham Scott ends up helping the ball on in the middle of the park, much to the anger of Chambers.
42 min: Another neat Fulham move down the left, but Rüdiger stands firm as Sessegnon runs on to a neat pass by Joe Bryan. Tom Cairney, the Fulham captain, was also involved. It was well-worked, but Chelsea were wise to it.
40 min: Rico shuts out Hazard! Dennis Odoi makes a foolish error, dribbling out from the back and being caught in possession. Higuaín manages to hook the ball into the path of Hazard, who powers into the box. But the Chelsea forward fails to tuck the ball into the corner of the goal, allowing Rico to get a strong left hand down to it. Chelsea could be out of sight.
38 min: Fulham win a corner, but Christensen clears. But the hosts recycle the ball through Joe Bryan and his hanging cross is dealt with by Kepa. Azpilicueta is down after taking a whack as Kepa came to collect the high ball under pressure from Mitrovic and co. Maurizio Sarri seeks clarification, and has a quick look at David Luiz, but the Chelsea captain is fine to continue.
36 min: Ream makes a smart block on Hazard, who has no choice but to take the shot on first time after being threaded through by Higuaín. It was Jorginho that was at the heart of another incisive Chelsea move, though, initially freeing Higuaín, as the striker momentarily exchanged roles with the No 10.
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35 min: Chambers tries to find Mitrovic, but it’s an awkward ball and Chelsea gobble it up no problem, as Fulham gift back possession.
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33 min: Higuaín should add a third for Chelsea – but fluffs his lines! Jorginho floats a weighted pass in behind a sleeping Fulham defence, comfortably splitting Ream and Le Marchand. When Higuaín races in behind, his first touch is good but his next one badly lets him down and ends up spooning over Sergio Rico’s goal.
GOAL! Fulham 1-2 Chelsea (Jorginho, 31)
A stunning finish, as Jorginho smacks home from the edge of the box. That’s his second goal for Chelsea since arriving from Napoli last summer and it was Jorginho that actually prompted that sweeping move upfield, after pulling out of a tackle on Bryan, who went to ground. Hazard drove down the left flank and passed infield, allowing Jorginho to apply the finishing touches.
JORGINHO 🔥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 3, 2019
The midfielder places one in to the top corner and Chelsea lead again.
📺 Watch live on Sky Sports PL or follow here: https://t.co/CGvOFFeTKg pic.twitter.com/IwjyAaIxem
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30 min: Joe Bryan feels hard done by centrally after wriggling away from a sea of Chelsea shirts before finally coming unstuck. And now Chelsea break to devastating effect ...
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GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Chelsea (Chambers, 27)
A totally unmarked Calum Chambers ghosts in at the back post and draws Fulham level. Chambers peels off his man at the corner, leaving Chelsea to wonder what on earth happened to their marking there. Chambers was in acres and even had the luxury of taking his time to steer home, placing his strike past Kepa.
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26 min: Kepa keeps out Mitrovic! Ryan Sessegnon raided down the left before pausing his run to tee up the Fulham striker. Mitrovic makes a clean connection on his cross, whacking it goalwards but Kepa tips it over. Fulham corner ...
25 min: Willian goes over under the challenge of Cairney but, again, the referee is having none of it. Seconds before, Willian linked nicely with Emerson, who had poured forward down the left flank. He scooped a fine ball into the latter to play across goal, but Fulham snuffed it out. And now the hosts break ...
23 min: Chambers blocks off Hazard on the edge of the box after a neat give-and-go with the goalscorer, Higuaín. But Fulham get a little fortunate, with the referee unmoved. Chambers will need to be careful after being cautioned. Hazard’s tail is up, and he is having plenty of joy running at a vulnerable Fulham back line.
21 min: And Calum Chambers is so frustrated at falling behind that he’s had a tug at Willian’s shirt. Graham Scott has no choice but to book the Fulham man. That strike means Fulham have conceded a league-high 64 goals this season.
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GOAL! Fulham 0-1 Chelsea (Higuaín, 20)
Higuaín bags his third Chelsea goal, applying a marvellous first-time finish to Azipilicueta’s low cross from the right. Fulham were caught out by the Chelsea overload, with Willian and Azpilicueta bombing down the flank. The ball in is simple but equally perfect for the Argentine to smash hard beyond Rico.
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18 min: Kepa makes an almighty error – but Chelsea are off the hook! The Chelsea goalkeeper fails to claim a poor ball into the box by Kevin McDonald – it is right down Kepa’s throat – and makes a real hash of things, with the ball squirming through his hands. The ball ends up bouncing, but Ryan Babel did not anticipate the Spaniard cocking things up and Chelsea survive. Just imagine ...
KEPA 🙈
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 3, 2019
The returning Chelsea goalkeeper drops the ball to the feet of Ryan Babel - but the Fulham striker doesn't realise!
📺 Watch live on Sky Sports PL or follow here: https://t.co/CGvOFFwv8Q pic.twitter.com/5w3h1uUW6T
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15 min: A short delay as Kevin McDonald needs a change of shirt, with his first one ripped. Graham Scott, the referee, relays that to a baffled Higuaín.
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14 min: Chelsea calm things down with some simple passing around the back. But then Kanté is slipped in down the right. He immediately looks for Higuaín, who again is a little sluggish to react. The striker is not having it all his own way.
12 min: Sessegnon skips away from Jorginho, but his cross is cleared by Andreas Christensen. Fulham are up and at ‘em, and the supporters sound their appreciation.
11 min: Chelsea make in-roads down the left and Willian tries to sniff out an angle on the edge of the box to take aim, but Fulham make life difficult. The hosts then break up the other end but Mitrovic cannot nudge the ball into the path of Ryan Babel. That ball over the top has already caused Chelsea a couple of problems.
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8 min: Scott Parker’s roaring his team on on the touchline. He looks a seasoned pro at this. Maurizio Sarri should be relatively happy with Chelsea’s start too.
7 min: And then Higuaín gets a golden chance inside the box after being picked out by Hazard but, ultimately, the Chelsea striker’s first touch lets him down. He’s slow to get a shot off and Havard Nordtveit gets across to steal the ball.
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6 min: Azpilicueta does brilliant to deny Tom Cairney, after meeting Babel’s low ball on the edge of the box. The Chelsea skipper throws himself at it to get the block in. The ball falls kindly for Bryan, who has a pop from distance. For a moment, it looks as though it could nestle in the top corner of Kepa’s goal, but the Spaniard comfortably claims it in the end. A promising Fulham.
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4 min: Higuaín drops a header just wide of Rico’s goal! After winning the free-kick, Willian swings the ball in from the right and, while the initial cross is cleared, Fulham struggle to get rid. Kanté ends up driving from distance and when Hazard floats a dangerous cross back in, the Chelsea striker glances wide.
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3 min: Willian buzzes down the right flank and Joe Bryan chops the Brazilian down. Fulham are on the back foot early on here.
2 min: Tim Ream clears a ball in from the right by Azpilicueta. Fulham badly need to keep things tight early on; they have the worst defensive record in the league.
1 min: Tom Cairney is penalised for an early foul, allowing Chelsea to assume some early possession, and an early touch for Kepa. Jorginho finds Hazard with a neat ball through the midfield, but he cannot get the ball under control after picking out Higuaín.
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Peeeeeeeeeep!
And Mitrovic get us under way at Craven Cottage.
The teams are on the pitch! We are just the pre-match formalities away from kick-off. Sarri trudges out first, followed by Scott Parker and Stuart Gray, who returned as assistant manager this week.
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Anyway, back to the west London derby, where Fulham remember are on this wretched run of form having lost eight of their past nine matches. Chelsea, after a worrying dip and being edged out on penalties by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, got back on song at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, Andre Gray has won it for Watford at Vicarage Road:
Maurizio Sarri insists it’s “case closed” when it comes to Kepa Arrizabalaga, but we let Jacob Steinberg have the final say:
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This is the start of an important few weeks for Chelsea, with Dynamo Kiev on the horizon in the Europa League on Thursday before a date at home to Wolves, who are hot on their heels in seventh. Then Chelsea travel to Cardiff and Everton before March is out. “In England it’s very difficult to be in the top four,” Sarri said on Friday. “Every match is really very difficult, mentally very expensive. So you risk to arrive to this moment of the season really very tired — more mentally than physically. The target of my club is to return to the Champions League.”
As expected, Ryan Sessegnon is back in for his first Premier League start since December. Parker has been waxing lyrical about the 18-year-old this week, saying how he will remind the teenager, who grew up in Roehampton, that he is loved by his boyhood club. “He was pivotal to getting this club into this division,” Parker said. “For someone at such a young age to do what he did last year, and even now for someone at such a young age to be in the top league which is the best in the world is amazing. Like anything, when you’re a young boy, you have moments when you have little dips. But certainly Ryan Sessegnon is someone that we all love, whether that’s the fans, the actual club, the academy, the coaching staff. Certainly we’ll be trying to get the best out of him because he has so much quality and you know for sure that he can help us in the remaining part of the season.”
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Scott Parker’s programme notes touch on what has been a challenging week for Fulham. “It has been a very hard week given our two recent defeats on the road and subsequent departure of Claudio Ranieri,” he says. “Today, I find myself in the position of caretaker manager. Having previously been club captain of Fulham, it gives me immense pride to take charge. Results on the pitch this season have not been what we expected or wanted. I will do my utmost to bring everyone together and more work had to provide a more positive outlook for as long as I am asked to do.”
Team news news: Kepa Arrizabalaga is back in between the sticks for Chelsea, with Willy Caballero returning to the bench as Maurizio Sarri makes five changes from his side’s win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in midweek. Scott Parker makes just the one change from the Fulham team beaten by Southampton on Wednesday, with Ryan Sessegnon returning. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa is the player that drops out. Defensively, it’s the same back five that were all over the shop at St Mary’s. Sergio Rico, for one, could do with a big performance.
The teams!
Fulham: Rico; Odoi, Nordtveit, Ream, Bryan; Chambers, McDonald, Cairney; Babel, Mitrovic, R Sessegnon
Subs: Fabri, Le Marchand, Christie, Seri, Anguissa, Ayite, Vietto
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Christensen, Emerson; Kanté, Jorginho, Barkley; Willian, Higuaín, Hazard
Subs: Caballero, David Luiz, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Pedro, Giroud
Referee: Graham Scott
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Preamble
So, Claudio Ranieri will not face his former club but Scott Parker will – as the caretaker Fulham manager. Ranieri was sacked after a miserable run of three wins in 17 games, leaving Fulham 10 points from safety and Parker, the Italian’s first-team coach, to pick up the pieces and smooth the club’s inevitable return to the Championship. Ranieri was ridiculed by travelling supporters in his final game at Southampton in midweek – there were unflattering banners, chants and jeers – and Parker knows his first task is to galvanise a club that has badly lost its way, underlined by a wild, and excessive, £100m-plus summer spending spree. “There’s no denying, and it doesn’t lie, that the owners of this football club have invested an awful lot of money,” Parker said. “At the end of the season, whether you’re winning leagues or getting relegated, it’s a time to reflect and work out where the mistakes have been made and where you can improve things.” Parker’s first starting lineup as manager will be intriguing, with the 38-year-old likely to recall Ryan Sessegnon, the teenager ushered to the fringes by Ranieri, who lasted just 106 days after replacing Slaviša Jokanović. On the theme of Chelsea reunions, the game may come too soon for André Schürrle, who has been bogged down by a virus. And then there’s the small matter of whether Kepa will replace Willy Caballero in goal for Maurizio Sarri’s side.
Kick-off: 2.05pm (GMT)
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