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Chelsea beat west London neighbours Fulham 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a Cole Palmer penalty that earned them their third Premier League win in a row, even if coach Mauricio Pochettino’s men still looked laboured in front of goal.
Palmer sent Bernd Leno the wrong way with his spot kick in the closing moments of the first half after Raheem Sterling was brought down by Issa Diop‘s trailing foot.
It was Palmer’s ninth league goal since joining from Manchester City as a last-minute summer signing and quickly establishing himself as Chelsea’s most dangerous player.
Fulham’s best chance for an equaliser fell to Raul Jimenez whose shot forced Djordje Petrovic into a one-handed save in the 73rd minute. Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher smacked the post with a shot from the outside of his boot in the 83rd minute.
One of the biggest cheers came when Ben Chilwell was sent on from the Chelsea bench, marking the England defender’s return from injury and potentially solving the hosts’ left-back problem which centre half Levi Colwill has struggled to fix.
The win pushed Chelsea up two places in the league table to eighth, above Manchester United and Newcastle United who both have a game in hand. Fulham remained 13th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.