Palmer penalty seals Chelsea win over Fulham

London, 

Saturday, 13 January, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

Cole Palmer scored his ninth goal of the season to secure Chelsea a 1-0 Victory over Derby rivals Fulham in an English Premier league match played at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. 

The blues came limping from a 1-0 defeat to championship side Middlesbrough in the first leg of the carabao cup semi final tie played on weekday. 

Chelsea dominated the first half of the match with Conor Gallager and Armando Broja creating threatening chances with a shot and a header past the woodwork respectively.

The best opportunity, until the closing moments of the opening period, actually fell Fulham’s way, as Dorde Petrovic needed to produce an instinctive stop to keep out Harry Wilson’s first-time effort from a tight angle.

 With lots of chances created and missed, a clever pass from Cole Palme saw Raheem Sterling brought down in the penalty area by Issa Diop, giving referee Anthony Taylor no choice but to point to the spot.

Palmer stepped up to the opportunity and buried into the corner giving Chelsea the lead. 

The goal pushed Fulham to up their game for an equalizer but Chelsea was more keen to protect their lead. 

Mexican point man Raul Jimenez threatened Petrović twice, but the Serbian goalkeeper was keen enough preventing both attempts to keep Fulham at bay.

Chelsea almost killed the game courtesy of a Gallagher shot that struck the outside of the post before substitute Noni Madueke’s low drive was well held by Leno. 

Ultimately, the goal seemed enough to move Chelsea up to eighth in the table securing their third straight premium league win. 

Meanwhile, Fulham are eight points above the bottom three in 13th, and they will now look ahead to the second leg of their own League Cup semi against Liverpool, having lost the first encounter 2-1.