MAURICIO POCHETTINO was hired for nights like this.
After a thoroughly underwhelming start to life as manager of Chelsea, everything – finally – came together for the former Tottenham manager.
The fact this easy win came just a couple of miles down the road from Stamford Bridge at their neighbours, who fancied their chances before the game, made this huge result even sweeter for the Argentine coach,
Considering the ridiculous way this Chelsea squad has been randomly thrown together, you could argue that Pochettino getting the team to play like in the seventh game of the season – against a decent Premier League side – was actually an achievement in itself.
Chelsea were simply unrecognisable from their previous matches. They played clever, vibrant, enterprising football without any fear.
It was not only their best performance of the season but probably the best display by any Chelsea team for the last year. Not that the bar has been set particularly high.
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Mykhailo Mudryk scoring his first goal since arriving for £88million in January was the stand-out moment and no-one could accuse him of lacking patience.
As he slid along the soaking wet grass on his knees, it was Mudryk’s first goal celebration for club or country since he scored for Shakhtar Donetsk in a 3-2 win over Vorskla Poltava in November 2022.
So, he’d certainly had plenty of time to practise his moves. Unfortunately for him, though, he did not appear for the second half.
Equally, it was also a special night for Armando Broja, who replaced the suspended Nicolas Jackson.
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Broja celebrated his first Chelsea start since November 2022 with his first goal in 12 months.
Incredibly, Chelsea’s goals came within 82 seconds of each other, which is a bit different to September when they managed just one strike in the entire month and that was in the Carabao Cup.
Chelsea’s fans in the away end sang about how they hated Tottenham but there were periods when this young team played a bit like that Spurs team which were, at times, a joy to watch under Pochettino.
The midfield three of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Feranandez and Conor Gallagher completely dominated.
Levi Cowell, playing at left-back, caused all sorts of issues down that side and played a huge part in the opening goal.
It was also a promising evening for Cole Palmer who made his first start since a £42.5m move from Manchester City.
As for Simon Hooper, the fourth official here, the game was slightly easier than the match he refereed between Spurs and Liverpool a couple of days earlier.
The biggest surprise was that Fulham, boasting an impressive record of three clean sheets, displayed such as soft centre in both midfield and defence,
They only avoided conceding even earlier because both Broja and Mudryk delivered wild shots into the Hammersmith End.,
Yet Chelsea continued to overwhelm their opponents and while an opening goal was not a surprise, the shock was the bloke who actually scored it, Chelsea’s no 10.
Mudryk took that 18th minute goal incredibly well yet it was all thanks to an exquisite chip courtesy of Colwill.
The young defender charged down the left but his clever pass over the head of Issa Diop, before resting perfectly on the chest of Mudryk, was unbelievably good.
The Ukrainian still had to finish the chance and after that one touch, he lashed the ball with his left foot through the legs of Bernd Leno.
While Fulham were undone by some great football for that first, the second was completely self-inflicted b.
There was no danger when Fulham skipper Tim Ream collected a pass from Leno yet his lazy pass was cut out by the outstretched leg of Palmer and slipped the ball to Broja. Incredibly, while trying to redeem himself, Ream ended up booting the ball against Broja and it rebounded into the net.
Chelsea’s fans could not believe what they were seeing. They sang: “We’re winning away, how sh*t must you be we’re winning away.”
At half-time, Pochettino went straight towards Palmer and was still giving the youngster advice and instructions as they walked into the Cottage.
In the second half, rather than shooting themselves in the foot, Chelsea avoided too many dramas.
They should have had a third when sub Ian Maatsen, who replaced Mudryk, hammered a shot against the woodwork while Leno delivered a cracking block to deny Fernandez from scoring the rebound.
Sasa Lukic should have pulled one back for Fulham but he shot straight at Robert Sanchez
With a firm eye on Saturday’s trip to Burnley, Pochettino made his changes which included a run-out for Raheem Sterling who dropped to the bench after suffering a 24-hour bug.
After a bright start to the season, Sterling’s form has absolutely dropped off a cliff.
He has struggled since he was surprisingly left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Euro2024 qualifier away to Ukraine and the friendly in Scotland.
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Southgate names his squad on Thursday for the friendly with Australia on October 13 and qualifier against Italy at Wembley three days later and you can be sure that Sterling will not be in it.
If Chelsea keep playing like this, Sterling could be spending even more time on the subs’ bench.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
