Harry Wilson played a huge role as Fulham stunned Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
AFP via Getty Images
Just as Chelsea can rely on Cole Palmer whatever the occasion, Fulham know that on these ones, in particular, there is always Harry Wilson.
Here at Stamford Bridge, the king of the west London derby cameo did it again, inspiring a remarkable stoppage-time comeback in a local grudge for the second time in as many months.
At the start of November, it was the Welshman’s own brace off the bench that saw Marco Silva’s men snatch a 2-1 victory from Brentford’s clutches.
This, though, was on another level, Wilson scoring the equaliser that seemed to have rescued a deserved point, then playing a part in Rodrigo Muniz’s 95th-minute winner, which sealed a first win on this ground since 1979.
These are heady times for the Cottagers who, one game short of the season’s halfway mark, sit level on points with Manchester City.
A 2-1 defeat looks, to Chelsea’s title hopes, a significant blow, coming hot on the back of a frustrating goalless draw at Everton. Assuming Liverpool beat Leicester at home later on Thursday night, they will go seven points clear with a game in hand.
Should Arsenal win what looks a similarly straightforward fixture at home to Ipswich tomorrow, they will be second and look again the most likely chasers.
For Enzo Maresca, who has insisted all along that his team are not title contenders, the great concern will be in how his side failed to close this game out, leading, through Palmer’s brilliance, from the 16th minute until the 82nd but without ever holding full control. That Bernd Leno and Robert Sanchez each made a string of superb saves spoke to the game’s back and forth.
On Boxing Day, Palmer’s opener ought to have come as a fittingly-timed treat, a 26th league goal of 2024 for its best player breaking Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s Chelsea record for the most prolific Premier League calendar year.
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The scary thing? That genius as it was, it might not even rank among the top five. Heck, it almost wasn’t even the best goal of the match; at one stage Fulham defender Calvin Bassey set off from the far touchline, ten yards inside his own half, and was stopped only by a fine low save by Robert Sanchez.
It was, still, quite the thing. Collecting the ball on the half-turn, Palmer showed a teasing glimpse of it to each of Sasa Lukic and Andreas Pereira, before gliding betwixt the pair in familiar style. Issa Diop, the next man up, thought twice about engaging but in the process transitioned from defender into prop.
Palmer used the centre-back’s legs as his guidelines, sending the ball between them and on path for the bottom corner, with an unsighted Leno unable to get across. It was that old favourite Lionel Messi finish, a pass-turned-shot from the edge of the box, taken early with no backlift and not a bit more energy than required.
Cole Palmer celebrates putting Chelsea ahead against Fulham.
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
As the nearby Marc Cucurella spread arms in amazement and wiggled fingertips frostbitten by the coolness of the finish, Palmer - cold by default - cupped an ear to the travelling fans.
Until ten minutes from time, their noisiest ripostes had been aimed in the direction of Tosin Adarabioyo, whose free transfer crossing of a capital divide was not quite of Sol Campbell proportions, but had still been marked down as betrayal.
Fulham, though, were always in the game, getting particular joy down the home right, where Antonee Robinson doubled as a one-man left flank and raided the space left by Malo Gusto’s runs inside.
The American’s cross created the leveller, Timothy Castagne heading back across goal for Wilson to finish. Pedro Neto claimed a non-existent foul, while half of Chelsea’s backline appealed, amusingly, for offside, not realising that Enzo Fernandez was playing everyone on from the away end’s second or third row.
Whether naivety or desperation, something then took hold of Chelsea and spurred them forwards without thought of the risk. Sanchez’s kick was not long enough to reach those sent in search of a winner and Wilson’s ball instead urged Lukic into the gulf of space left behind. He squared, Tosin cruelly unable to cut it out, and Muniz kept his nerve.