Chelsea made it three Premier League wins in a row for the first time since October 2022 as Cole Palmer’s penalty guided them to a 1-0 victory over Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
The winning goal came in stoppage time at the end of the first half, the top scorer for Mauricio Pochettino’s side notching his ninth goal of the season after Raheem Sterling was tripped in the box.
However, the move had been started by a moment of Palmer genius, spotting a gap and threading a superb ball through the middle that drew defender Issa Diop into a clumsy foul.
Marco Silva’s visitors never truly looked beaten until the final whistle sounded.
Chelsea, though, defended doggedly in the final moments to breath genuine momentum into their season.
The first half began in a familiar pattern, plenty of possession for the hosts but little or no penetration in the final third. Sterling was busy down the left during the opening 15 minutes, Kenny Tete at right-back barring the way.
The only chance of those opening exchanges fell to Conor Gallagher, the captain lifting his shot a couple of yards over the bar from just outside the box.
Sterling opted for a different tact on 20 minutes, laying it off wide to Enzo Fernandez to cross. His centre was met by Armando Broja at the front post, who failed to get enough of a glance on the ball and thumped his header wide.
The best chance of the half, though, was Fulham’s. Willian fed Andreas Pereira overlapping on the left, who picked out Harry Wilson stealing away into space on the far side. Wilson hit it first time, looking to sneak it inside Djordje Petrovic’s near post, but the goalkeeper spread himself well, rebounding it away with his legs.
Chelsea’s goal in added time at the end of the half was not deserved on the balance of play, but the pass from Palmer to carve out the chance was sublime. Making eyes for a lofted cross, he instead slipped a reverse ball through the middle for Sterling, who in cutting in onto his left was tripped by Diop. Palmer did the rest from the spot.
Chelsea were seeking a fourth win from five in the league, the kind of points return they had not enjoyed since former boss Graham Potter’s early days in charge more than a year ago. They were, in truth, fortunate to lead at the break.
Sterling headed against the post from six yards out at the start of the second half after Fernandez’s cross had picked him out. Malo Gusto played a low ball for Broja at the near post, but he failed to get a touch and it was cleared by Tosin, as a rebooted Chelsea emerged after the break with renewed purpose.
Fulham took time to get going in the second half half but finally found some bite after 70 minutes, Raul Jimenez shooting low first-time at goal and drawing a save from Petrovic dropping to his right. Pochettino responded by sending on Ben Chilwell for his first appearance in nearly fourth months after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Gallagher struck the post with a superb curling effort off the outside of his right boot as Chelsea looked to kill the game off, then Willian just cleared the bar from a free-kick, Fulham refusing to lie down easy.
In the end, the clock ran out on them, as Chelsea’s resurgence under Pochettino rolled on.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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