Under the lights on the banks of the River Thames, a west London derby rounded off another thrilling Premier League weekend on Monday evening.
Chelsea made the short journey to Craven Cottage hoping desperately that last week’s much-needed Carabao Cup win over Brighton could kickstart a top-flight turnaround under Mauricio Pochettino, who had overseen their worst start to a season in over 40 years.
The Blues sat in 15th place after taking just five points from their first six league matches this term, winning only two of their last 18 in total, as last season’s horrendous struggles had continued.
Mid-table Fulham, having bested the Blues here 2-1 back in January, would have been buoyant going into the match, but came away empty handed as defensive issues for the Whites and a quick-fire double from the away side settled the tie in Chelsea's favour.
With gameweek seven now concluded, VAVEL consider the four things we learned from this Monday night fixture:
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Defensive lapses cost Fulham
A stalwart of Fulham's back line over the last few years, and a player that experienced a renaissance last season under Marco Silva's tutelage, Tim Ream had an evening to forget against Chelsea.
Whilst goals have not been as easy to come by so far this campaign, Fulham have still been relatively stingy at the back, but it was two glaring defensive mishaps that ultimately decided the outcome of the game.
Although the first goal was not directly Ream's fault, it was the lack of organisation in defense that led to Issa Diop's mistimed headed attempt to give Mudryk the freedom of the penalty area to slot past the on-rushing Bernd Leno.
But it would certainly be the American centre-back that will be taking the majority of the blame for Chelsea's second. Just twenty seconds after the restart, the defender played a wayward pass after pressure from Cole Palmer that saw Armando Broja through on goal, only for the defenders last ditch clearance attempt to ricochet off the Albanian forward and into the net.
Chelsea certainly were deserving of their goals, but it cannot be denied that they were handed a big slice of good fortune from the lack of concentration from their opponent's defenders. The fate of Fulham's season could rely on this not becoming a trend moving forwards.
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Chelsea's young English talent show their worth
Whether it was the coolness and calmness of Levi Colwill playing out of position in Chelsea's defence, or the relentless energy of Conor Gallagher pressing Fulham's midfield for the entirety of the match, there were plenty of examples of Chelsea's young English core playing at their best.
Captain Gallagher looks more and more accomplished every time he steps on the field, and a continued run of games in the side is doing wonders for his development, but the standout performance came from the summer acquisition from Manchester City, Cole Palmer. The 6'2 creative midfielder enjoyed a dazzling league starting berth for the Blues, following on from his assisting exploits in the cup.
Consistently Chelsea's best attacking outlet, it was in fact Palmer's defensive work rate that put the game out of sight for the away side. His intelligent pressing to force Ream into a mistake was the catalyst for the second goal of the match, and will certainly be met with glowing praise from his manager.
With a whole host of summer transfers into Cobham, the acquisition of Palmer may turn out to be the shrewdest signing of them all.
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Marco's missing Mitro
With Aleksander Mitrovic's much publicised revolt from west London over the summer, in order to force through his 'dream' move to Saudi Arabia, Marco Silva was in desperate need of reinforcement's up top.
The Serbian striker contributed to the vast majority of Fulham's output so his departure from the side left a void that needed filling, and the responsibility had been given to Raul Jimenez, brought in from Wolves, to be Fulham's goal scorer-in-chief.
The problem for Marco Silva, however, is that Jimenez for Mitrovic is not a like-for-like replacement, and the Mexican forward has not been the same clinical striker he was prior to his serious head injury in November 2020.
In Monday's game, specifically, Jimenez was the first substitution that Marco Silva made after only 52 minutes, being replaced by Carlos Vinicius in a hope that the Brazilian may have a greater impact on the match.
When a top-level striker can be the difference between consistent mid-table finishes or relegation struggles in the Premier League, Fulham will be hoping that one of their centre-forwards can find some form and quickly.
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Mudryk off the mark
Chelsea have also had their own well-documented struggles in front of goal this season, with perhaps none more high-profile than Mykhailo Mudryk.
The Ukrainian was brought into the club for a very expensive fee in January and had yet to score a goal in a competitive match. He was able to rectify that at Craven Cottage with a smart finish in the 18th minute, following a wonderful floated ball from Levi Colwill, who was the first to celebrate with the young winger, having finally broke his duck.
The mood was only slightly dampened by Mudryk's withdrawal at half-time with a supposed hip-injury, but Blues fans will be hoping that the issue is only a minor one so that Mudryk will be able to build on his new found confidence in their next match away at Vincent Kompany's Burnley.
