Cole Palmer was back to his best to give Xabi Alonso's Chelsea manager a winning start in a chaotic 3-2 win over Fulham on Monday night. The Blues' attacking trio of Palmer, Joao Pedro and Morgan Rogers looked every bit one of the Premier League's most dangerous sides as all three scored to give Alonso a deserved victory in a game full of spectacle and little defending.
Palmer, finally fully recovered from injury and in even better form after a summer away from England's World Cup campaign, scored a goal and provided an assist, setting up Joao Pedro to open the scoring after just 31 seconds. The Brazilian, who was unexpectedly left out of the Brazil squad, also looked fresh. The trio was unstoppable from that point on.
Rogers joined the party on his debut, making a late move to meet Maxence Lacroix's cross just before half-time, before his header set up Joao Pedro to set up Palmer for a third goal just before the break. Chelsea would have had a quieter evening, despite the unexpected absence of Moises Caicedo through injury, had it not been for a nightmare evening from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, whose errors allowed Fulham to come back into the game twice.
The Spaniard, whose position as the Blues' No. 1 goalkeeper has long been in question, allowed Josh King's powerful but expected shot to end up just wide of his own post to equalise midway through the first half, before failing to control another shot, giving the ball to Goncalo Garcia, who gave Fulham the chance to score their second.
The first appearance of the Alvaro Arbeloa era suggested that the Cottagers will play attacking football regardless of the opposition, and they created plenty of chances against their west London rivals – but they will need to improve their defensive discipline significantly, having been easily broken up for each of Chelsea’s goals. From this performance, it looks like they will score plenty of goals too – and could have even snatched an equaliser when Antonee Robinson mishit the ball in an attempt to beat Sanchez, who was in an awkward position. But that would have been unfair to Chelsea, who earned a deserved victory thanks to their electrifying attacking trio.
