Fulham dominated much of the opening period and had done enough to lead the west London derby, but Chelsea took control through a contested VAR intervention. Enzo Fernandez delivered a corner in the ninth minute of added time and Joao Pedro leapt to score, continuing his strong form since joining from Brighton. Josh King's earlier strike was reviewed after Rodrigo Muniz inadvertently trod on Trevoh Chalobah's foot, prompting Michael Salisbury to intervene and Rob Jones to rule against Fulham, enraging head coach Marco Silva. Chelsea coped with an injury to Liam Delap and relied on resilience built after winning the Club World Cup to secure a 2-0 victory.
Perhaps the biggest insult for Fulham was that the first half was still going on when Chelsea finally broke through. They were into the ninth minute of added time when Enzo Fernandez delivered a corner, Joao Pedro leapt to score and Marco Silva was forced to accept that the footballing Gods were not on his side, but this is where the game is these days.
They dominated much of the opening period and had done enough to lead this west London derby, only for the red mist to descend when Josh King's first goal for his boyhood club was followed by one of those long, tortured looks at the pitchside monitor and a ruling from Rob Jones that left the Fulham head coach, Silva, utterly incandescent on the touchline.
The supposed offence during the buildup to King's lovely strike came from Rodrigo Muniz inadvertently treading on Trevoh Chalobah's foot as he turned away from the Chelsea defender. There was no major appeal. Muniz had possession and was being challenged by Chalobah. Most people saw a good goal. Michael Salisbury, the man at Stockley Park, saw a reason to intervene.
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