Chelsea made a winning start to their Premier League campaign as they beat West London rivals Fulham 3-2 at Craven Cottage on Monday night.
Joao Pedro gave the Blues the lead after just 31 seconds — the fastest goal ever scored on matchday one of a Premier League season.
Fulham hit back through Josh King, but Chelsea re-asserted their dominance with strikes from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer either side of half-time.
A debut goal from Gonzalo Garcia kept it interesting, but Chelsea managed to see it out as Xabi Alonso beat Alvaro Arbeloa in a dugout battle between former Liverpool and Real Madrid teammates.
Fulham vs Chelsea analysis
Chelsea’s front three cook
There has been a whole new level of anticipation around Stamford Bridge this summer following the signing of Morgan Rogers, with supporters excited to see how Alonso slots him in alongside Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro.
On the basis of Monday night’s performance, that anticipation was certainly warranted.
We’ll get to Chelsea’s dodgy backline shortly, but in the attacking third, they were scintillating. Alonso lined them up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Rogers and Palmer operating as dual 10s behind Pedro, and the movement and link-up play between the three was utterly mouthwatering.
At least one of the trio was directly involved in every single Chelsea goal, with Palmer assisting Pedro for the first, Rogers scoring the second and Pedro returning the favour to Palmer on the third.
Fresh from a new contract, Pedro led the line superbly, dragging Fulham’s centre-backs out of position with his movement and creating space for the runs of the two behind him. Aside from his goal and assist, the Brazilian created two chances, attempted four shots and had a joint-match-high nine touches in the opposition box.
Palmer, meanwhile, looks rejuvenated after sitting out the World Cup over the summer. The 24-year-old was at the heart of everything Chelsea did well at Craven Cottage, posting match-highs for touches in the opposition box (9), shots attempted (5) and completed dribbles (5), while he created three chances and played six line-breaking passes.
And to top it off, Rogers couldn’t have wished for a better debut. The former Aston Villa man took his goal brilliantly to restore Chelsea’s lead just before half-time, while he created a match-high five chances and, in a tireless effort, covered 10.9km — a team-high for the 83 minutes he was on the pitch.
There were some commendable supporting efforts for Chelsea, not least their wing-backs, Malo Gusto and Jorrel Hato, driving forward at every opportunity.
But it was the front three that stole the show with a collective performance that suggests they could bury any defence in the Premier League this season.
Sanchez fails to inspire as Chelsea leak goals
The goalkeeper position has long been a contentious one for Chelsea. Many thought that Mike Penders could get opportunities after returning from his Strasbourg loan, but it was Robert Sanchez who retained the No.1 shirt on Monday night.
If his performance at Craven Cottage is anything to go by, he won’t hold that position for long, whether that be through a combination of Penders and Gabriel Slonina, or investment before the transfer window closes.
Sanchez looked nervous from the very beginning, misplacing passes and even kicking the turf at one point, folding whenever Fulham’s forwards applied pressure.
That seemed to get to the Spaniard, who routinely declined the opportunity to catch crosses into his box in favour of punching clear. He didn’t even look confident saving a routine shot straight at him from King in the 20th minute, diverting the effort out for a corner when he could have easily kept it within his grasp.
The errors all came to a head minutes later when King fired another routine effort toward the near post, catching Sanchez completely out of position and unable to get down quickly enough.
Sanchez didn’t cover himself in glory on Fulham’s second goal, either, spilling a Timothy Castagne shot straight into the path of Garcia, who made no mistake with his close-range header.
Of course, Sanchez wasn’t helped by those in front of him. Levi Colwill had a few rough moments, while Maxence Lacroix is still adjusting to his new surroundings and Josh Acheampong had a few moments that signalled he is still just 20 years old and very inexperienced.
However, it’s impossible to overstate the effect a goalkeeper can have on a defence. Sanchez exuded nothing but nervousness and uncertainty to make Chelsea’s night far more difficult than it should have been.