An entertaining and historic London derby clash on Boxing Day saw Fulham emerge victorious against Chelsea for only the third time in their history.
The Blues led the scoring through Cole Palmer, but let their narrow lead slip away, as second half goals from Harry Wilson and a stoppage time winner from Rodrigo Muniz gave Marco Silva's side all three points.
Marco Silva deserves credit for his in-game adjustments which kept his team in the match and troubled their opponents, especially in the second half. Enzo Maresca will be furious to not earn at least a point, and will have questions regarding his teams lack of intensity and failure to create goalscoring chances.
The loss means Chelsea's gap to Liverpool extends further, and their second place position is put under pressure by the likes of Nottingham Forest and Arsenal.
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Story of the match
Fulham's league record against the Blues has not been positive, but this current squad is full of surprises, already earning points against Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. They hoped to do the same against Chelsea.
Marco Silva's side often shifts to a more defensive back five when facing stronger opponents in the league, and did so in this match with the return of Joachim Anderson at centre-back.
Skipper Antonee Robinson would often look to play higher as an attacking wingback, while the pace and strength of Adama Traore was also utilised to catch their opponents on the counter.
Given that Malo Gusto often shifted and inverted higher up the pitch, Robinson was given several good crossing opportunities in the opening minutes, whilst also dragging Tosin Adarabioyo and Pedro Neto out of position.
Defensively they were solid in a 5-4-1 - hoping to restrict Chelsea's attacking movement through the middle. No matter how compact they were, there was no stopping Cole Palmer, who danced through the Fulham lines and caressed his shot past Bernd Leno to make it 1-0.
By pushing several of their players into the attack, Palmer could find pockets of space in dangerous areas and was given license to shoot; a collection of shots were better dealt with by Leno this time. Fulham needed to find ways to nullify Palmer, but as we have seen many times before, this is easier said than done.
The Cottagers were putting in a number of fouls and gave away a pair of free-kicks, both in a dangerous area. One almost resulted in a goal - Marc Cucurella was found unmarked by Enzo Fernandez, his header generating power but no placement as it travelled straight into the path of Leno.
Fulham were down but not out - they were still having luck down Chelsea's right hand side, with defender Calvin Bassey joining Robinson and Traore as they looked to outnumber Chelsea. There was no route to striker Raul Jimenez in the middle, however, as Sanchez was there to collect.
One final well worked move for the Blues rounded out the first half - some good link-up between Cucurella and Fernandez created a shooting chance for Palmer, but Bassey put in a well timed slide tackle to block the resulting shot.
It was a half of few chances for either team, but Chelsea had Cole Palmer to thank for some world-class individual skill, as they went into the tunnel with a narrow one goal advantage.
The Blues were after more goals at the start of the second half, with a well saved Enzo Fernandez strike quickly followed up by a Levi Colwill header, which was converted but flagged offside after the England defender mistimed his run.
Fulham were hungry for goals too, moving Traore alongside Jiminez in attack as they searched for an equaliser. Left-back Robinson pushed forward as far as the Chelsea box, and had a shooting effort smothered by Sanchez.
Nicolas Jackson looked disappointed to be substituted, as he often does after a goalless outing. Christopher Nkunku was introduced in his place, with Maresca confirming in midweek that the French forward remained in his plans.
With ten minutes in the game to play, Fulham snatched their equaliser, a header turned in by the substitute Harry Wilson after a great initial cross by Alex Iwobi. Chelsea were furious, claiming that Pedro Neto was fouled in the build-up, but the referee saw nothing wrong with the challenge, and the goal stood.
It was always a possibility given how competitive the game had been. Chelsea missed the chance to find a second goal, and paid the price. There was a close effort by Jadon Sancho at the other end, but Leno got down well to make the reaction save.
The Blues’ misery was compounded late in stoppage time, as another Fulham substitute got on the scoresheet. This time it was Rodrigo Muniz, who had time to take a touch in the box and blast his effort past Sanchez, winning the game for the Cottagers.
The away end erupted into wild celebrations as Marco Silva's side completed their comeback. Chelsea had been poor for large parts of the second half, and looked demoralised at full time as they picked up a third league loss.
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Player of the match - Cole Palmer
Given Chelsea's dominance in recent weeks, the performance and result felt very out of place. One shining positive to take away for Chelsea will be the performance of Cole Palmer, who looked at his usual best.
His well taken goal in the first half gave his side the lead initally, picking up the ball in midfield, gliding past several Fulham players, and releasing a shot which went through the legs of defender Issa Diop and dumbfounded Bernd Leno, nestling into the bottom left corner.
However, as seen in this game, Palmer cannot always be the saviour for Chelsea; goals need to come from elsewhere if the Blues aim to finish in the top four.
