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• Mauricio Pochettino vows to continue to show belief in Chelsea’s young stars

  Mauricio Pochettino promised Chelsea will continue to show belief in their young stars after Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

  Armando Broja, making his first start since injuring his ACL in December, also netted as the visitors gave their most convincing performance yet of the manager’s reign and ended a run of three Premier League games without a goal.

  Chelsea took the lead after 18 minutes when Mudryk chested down Levi Colwill’s expertly-flighted cross and nudged the ball past Bernd Leno as the Fulham goalkeeper advanced.

  And within a minute it was two, Cole Palmer dispossessing Tim Ream who was careless with the ball at his feet and feeding Broja, who deflected the ball home off Ream’s attempted clearance.

  It was a dominant first half from Chelsea with Palmer, making his first Premier League start for the club after impressing in the EFL Cup win against Brighton last week, making a critical difference coming deep to collect the ball and starting the visitors’ attacks.

  Ian Maatsen, on at half-time in place of Mudryk, struck a post after the break as Pochettino’s side threatened a third, and it was not until 14 minutes from time that a lacklustre Fulham threatened a response when Robert Sanchez blocked Sasa Lukic’s close-range shot.

  Pochettino pointed to the patience the club have shown in waiting for their expensively assembled but young side to come good, particularly Mudryk who finally broke his scoring duck nine months after jointing from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88million.

  “The difference (tonight) is the result,” said the manager. “The performance was really good. First half I think we played really well, second half we controlled the game.

  “I’m pleased for Mudryk, and for Armando. For Misha because he has scored his first goal in the Premier League and then for Armando, after a long period out he’s scored again. The competition is really good for the team.

  “It’s about maturity, adaptation. We need to understand that young people need time, need to settle. Massive change for him when he arrived here. I think when you arrive in a team, it’s not easy to settle because there were too many young players that arrived in a team (that) was not solid.

  “They need to add something to the team, to build something important. Always it’s difficult, but it’s about time and to have patience, to trust these guys and these young, talented players, and to build their confidence.

  “It’s a massive job. It’s step by step. Sometimes people have not the patience, but for us it’s about being patient. Even when we were losing and when we didn’t win from the beginning of the season, we were calm and kept the belief.

  “Now that we’ve won two games in a few days it’s (still) important to stay calm.”

  It was the fourth game in a row in which Mudryk had started, having not been in the starting XI for any of Pochettino’s first five matches in charge.

  He was withdrawn at half-time with what the manager said was an issue with his quad, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday’s trip to face Burnley.

  “He played because he deserved it, and he showed in training that he deserved it,” said the manager. “He was really focused in training and had the confidence to go on the pitch and play.

  “Normally it’s the player that needs to show us that we can trust in them.”

  Fulham boss Marco Silva reflected on a game in which he felt his team lacked the required aggression as they fell to a third league defeat of the season.

  “Disappointing result for us,” he said. “At certain moments, performance-wise as well. They started intense from the first moment, winning some individual challenges that gave the boost they needed.

  “Our first half was not aggressive enough on and off the ball. We were sloppy in some moments. We did not bring the dynamic that we should. Even our first pressure didn’t work very well.”

• Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja on target as Chelsea beat derby rivals Fulham

  Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja were on target as Chelsea claimed west London derby bragging rights with a 2-0 Premier League victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

  Mudryk opened the scoring before Broja doubled their tally – one minute later – to give the Blues an important three points on the road.

  The win brought Chelsea’s three-match winless run in the league to an end and relieved some pressure from the shoulders of Mauricio Pochettino as his side began to turn a corner.

  Chelsea started with intent. The visitors enjoyed touches of the ball in dangerous areas and looked positive through the likes of Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez, who fed the pacey Mudryk, who blazed over his first attempt in the 10th minute.

  But the Ukraine international did not have to be asked twice when he put Chelsea ahead after 18 minutes.

  Levi Colwill’s curled pass unleashed the rapid Mudryk, who calmy finished past Bernd Leno to score his first-ever Chelsea goal.

  And a minute after the restart, the Blues doubled their lead.

  Palmer – who started in his first league game for the away side – pounced on a misplaced pass and slipped through Broja, who found a gap and fired home to give Chelsea a 2-0 advantage.

  It was two big chances and two goals for Pochettino’s men, who finally began to show signs of being clinical, having gone three English top-flight games without finding the back of the net.

  Fulham were anonymous for much of the first half, but they had a half-chance when the misfiring Raul Jimenez jumped highest at a corner and directed his effort wide of Robert Sanchez’s post in the 41st minute.

  Marco Silva brought midweek scorers Carlos Vinicius and Alex Iwobi on at half-time in search of a response and Nigeria international Iwobi started bright when he got on the end of Willian’s cross – but his effort fell kindly into the gloves of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

  And Carlos Vinicius was lucky to avoid red when he appeared to strike Thiago Silva with his hand before he combined with Iwobi on the hour, where he was stopped in his tracks by Chelsea’s tight defence.

  The visitors sought a third on the break when Broja and Palmer worked together to find substitute Ian Maatsen. But his first-time effort cannoned off goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s post before Fernandez’s rebound was denied by the German in goal.

  Craven Cottage cried for a goal in the 73rd minute as time ebbed away.

  Timothy Castagne marauded down the right flank and did well to beat his man before his driven cross found the head of Vinicius, who again failed to test Sanchez.

  The Cottagers looked flat all game and were in clear need of an strong outlet up front to challenge Axel Disasi and 39-year-old Thiago Silva, who were making light work of any Fulham attack.

  This was summed up in 12 minutes from time when Sasa Lukic missed a golden opportunity from six yards after Willian’s well-weighted pass.

  Chelsea continued to nullify any threats from the hosts and held on to seal victory during five added minutes to move up to 11th in the table.

• Sir Jim Ratcliffe considering minority stake bid for Manchester United – reports

  Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering changing his bid and buying a minority stake in Manchester United, according to reports.

  Ineos founder Ratcliffe, who had attempted to buy Chelsea last year, joined the race to purchase United in January and had been the sole bidder before Sheikh Jassim entered the running a month later.

  A lengthy takeover saga has followed with numerous bids entered by both boyhood fan Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, but no progress has been made over any potential change of ownership from the Glazer family, who announced in November they were open to selling the club.

  Manchester United’s valuation on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted by more than £500million last month in the wake of reports the Glazers may not sell.

  It is now being reported that Ratcliffe, the second-richest person in the UK according to the Sunday Times Rich List, could decide to buy a minority stake in the Premier League giants.

  Sky News report Ratcliffe may seek a stake in the region of 25 per cent as part of a proposal to try to bring the drawn-out sale process to an end, having initially wanted to complete a majority takeover.

  If the Glazers accepted this new reported offer, it would see the American family still retain majority control of the club they first bought in 2005.

  United fans have protested against the Glazers for years and thousands took part in an hour-long sit-in at Old Trafford after a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in August.

  It has been 18 years since the Americans’ controversial leveraged takeover and over 10 months since they announced a strategic review.

  Ratcliffe’s team declined to comment when contacted by the PA news agency.