Thirty seconds was all it took
Craven Cottage had not even settled. Fulham fluffed a clearance inside their own half, Cole Palmer picked the ball up and slid it through, and Joao Pedro lifted a finish over Bernd Leno before the clock reached 31 seconds. Xabi Alonso’s first competitive night as Chelsea manager began with a chunk of the crowd still looking for their seats.
Fulham did not stay stunned for long. Timothy Castagne floated a cross into the box on 23 minutes, Robert Sanchez came for it and got nowhere near it, and Josh King drilled the equaliser home from the centre of the area. For the next quarter of an hour the Blues looked like a side still working out where each other would be.
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Rogers and Palmer turn the night
Maxence Lacroix broke the pattern. His work opened space for Morgan Rogers on the edge of the box on 41 minutes and the summer arrival struck it first time to mark his competitive debut with a goal. Four minutes into the second half Palmer slid in a third after Joao Pedro held the ball up with a defender across his back.
A header on 54 minutes pulled Fulham back to within one and the ground came alive again. Antonee Robinson dragged a shot wide on 77 minutes with the goal in front of him, and a fourth Chelsea strike was chalked off for offside deep into stoppage time. Alonso emptied his bench through the closing half hour, sending on Enzo Fernandez, Pedro Neto and Estevao to see the lead home.
Where it leaves both London clubs
Chelsea take three points from a fixture that hurt them last season, when Fulham won 2-1 at this same ground in January. Alonso has a Premier League win at the first attempt and evidence that Palmer and Joao Pedro can run an attack together, three goals arriving inside 53 minutes of football.
Alvaro Arbeloa, a friend of Alonso’s going back to their Real Madrid years, is left with a scoreline that reads better than the night felt. His Fulham side created chances and scored twice against a rebuilt Chelsea back line. They also conceded inside a minute, which is not how anyone plans to open a season.
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