English Premier League – Match Review: Chelsea versus Fulham
Chelsea took on Fulham at the Stamford Bridge in what was an eventful encounter between the two London clubs. Chelsea fielded Didier Drogba in their starting line up despite the fact that the striker had previously been suffering from malaria. Chelsea’s
line up included the following stars; Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Zhirkov, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda.
Chelsea’s substitutes bench consisted of; Turnbull, Ramires, Ferreira, Sturridge, Bruma, Kakuta, McEachran. On the other hand Fulham lined up with the likes of Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Briggs, Davies, Murphy, Etuhu, Duff, Dempsey, and Dembele
whereas the Cottagers fielded the following players on their substitutes bench; Stockdale, Pantsil, Andrew Johnson, Gera, Eddie Johnson, Dikgacoi, Greening.
The match saw only a single goal which was scored by Michael Essien as the Ghanaian midfielder’s goal proved to be the difference in the end between the two sides. Chelsea lost their previous match in the English Premier League as they suffered a two goal
defeat to Liverpool on the last weekend of matches in the English league. Chelsea were the brighter side in the first half but despite the fact that they dominated the proceedings, the Blues failed to penetrate in behind a disciplined Fulham defence on most
occasions. Fulham started the match with a handicapped team which was without Carlos Salcido and Chris Baird. Mark Hughes’s side played catch up for most part of the match as they failed to get their game going due to their poor ball retention capabilities.
Chelsea’s only goal of the match came around the 30th minute mark as Salomon Kalou swung in a brilliant cross from the right hand side of Chelsea’s attack. Essien was on hand to connect with a header as Chelsea took the lead without breaking sweat
against their London neighbours. Fulham didn’t lose concentration after going a goal down but they were unsuccessful in their attempts to gain parity with the present English champions. Kalou had a brilliant chance at the half way mark for Chelsea but his
wasteful finishing gave Fulham a hope that they could crawl back with some heroics in the second half.
However, that wasn’t meant to be as Chelsea kept up the good work in the second half of the match. Carlo Ancelloti’s men secured a one goal victory in the end and in doing so they increased their lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points
as Manchester United drew against Manchester City. However, the win came at a cost for Chelsea as Michael Essien was sent off right at the end of the match by the referee for his rash challenge on Clint Dempsey. The straight red card now means that the midfielder
will miss Chelsea’s next three matches due to suspension.
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