PL Update: Chelsea win thriller against Fulham
Cara Banks and Danny Higginbotham react to Chelsea's impressive 3-2 battle with Fulham at Craven Cottage to wrap up Matchweek 1.
Video Transcript
As we welcome you to our Premier League studios, Cara Banks alongside Danny Higginbotham.
Let's wait no- waste no time, Danny, and get straight to the highlights from Craven Cottage.
We expected it to be an emotional evening, and arguably it was.
And it got off to a very quick start with the first goal coming in the first 31 seconds.
Yeah, and it was open from the beginning as well, and it's Chelsea, they take the lead.
And what a start it was for them as well, and it's Joao Pedro, s- sorry, Joao Pedro, who was ex- exceptional throughout the game as well.
But what I love about this here is when the ball comes towards Palmer, Joao Pedro knows that Palmer's got the ability to find him.
He knows he's in an onside position, so even before the ball is played, he's on his way.
The first touch is great.
The second touch is even better.
Let's see what Alonso thinks of it as well.
What a great start it was.
But then Fulham, give them credit, they got themselves back into the game, and it's Josh King, really good play here from him.
But one person who will not wanna see this again is Chelsea's goalkeeper, Sanchez.
He's beaten far too easily at the near post.
Yes, you could understand potentially if he's beaten at that far post, but to get beaten at the near post there, really, really disappointing.
And Fulham found themselves level, but then the chances continued to come.
And Palmer was in the middle of everything that was good about Chelsea.
Lovely bit of skill and speed there.
Plays it to Joao Pedro, just goes the wrong side of the post.
But Chelsea, they were asking questions, and then one of the other new signings, Austin McHugh, a set-piece coach, you could tell that he had had something to do with this.
Ends up being a really good save from Lavia.
And then once again, Palmer gets himself in a great position.
Lacroix from center back, wonderful bit of skill.
Cuts it back to Morgan Rogers who's there to get his debut goal as well.
And Chelsea were looking really, really good every time they went forward.
And it's just wonderful movement from Lacroix.
Look how many players are getting into the box for Chelsea as well, which is a really big thing.
And then you go into the second half, and Chelsea just kept going.
This is brilliant from Cole Palmer.
He gets past three, four Fulham players, and then as he takes the strike, it does take a deflection, which sends it away from goal.
But that just tells you the confidence that he is playing with.
And then before you know it, it's 3-1 to Chelsea, and it's all front three players involved.
First of all, it's the header from Rogers.
Goes to Joao Pedro.
He plays it to Palmer, and Palmer finds the back of the net.
But it's brilliant the way the three are interchanging.
None of them are on the same line.
Joao Pedro, he knows he's in an onside position because he's starting from his own half, and then he just has the presence of mind to wait for Palmer.
Palmer makes a really good run, plays it into the space, and Chelsea make it 3-1.
At that point, you're thinking to yourself, "Has to be over now."
See the celebration as well from Cole Palmer and the rest of his teammates getting involved.
But then Fulham got themselves back into it.
But once again, oh, look at Sanchez.
He makes the save, but he just puts it back into a dangerous area.
And Garcia, he gets a debut goal himself as well.
But it'll be a real disappointment, the two goals that Chelsea did concede.
And just see once again the goal.
Sanchez once again disappointed.
And then Fulham, they had another chance towards the end of the game.
But Robinson just going inside.
You see exactly what he's trying to do, trying to get the ball over Sanchez.
He's not able to do that.
And then this was the only concerning point for Chelsea.
Cole Palmer, little bit of an injury, goes off.
But hopefully from Chelsea's perspective, he's gonna be okay and it's just precautionary.
Yeah, fingers crossed.
He had an injury hampered last season in the Premier League.
So it is a win and three points for Chelsea.
What's next for Fulham, though, in terms of the next few fixtures in the Premier League?
Their next one is coming up on Sunday away at Sunderland.
They'll be back home September 5th hosting Crystal Palace, then away at Liverpool, and home welcoming Manchester United, all those in September.
Then away at Ipswich Town on October 10th.
He didn't get a win, but it was still a decent performance from Alvaro Arbeloa in his first match as a Premier League head coach.
Let's hear from him now.
Let's start at the beginning, Alvaro.
Such a, you know, not the start you wanted, but from there you must have been so pleased with the response of your team.
Yes, of course.
I think, we concede goals, in the first minute, at the end of the first half, at the beginning of the second half.
So I think there are not worse moment to concede a goal.
But I, like, as you say, we, we show character and personality, and I think I'm very proud how my players respond.
And yes, I think, we deserve a little bit more, but football is not about what you serve, it's about what you take.
And, and we have, lost tonight.
How much do you think about those goals that you conceded, in particular the first one?
Was it just a case of not being quite ready?
No, I think, if you have to lost against a, have to lose against a team like Chelsea, I think they need to do a little bit more.
So for me, easy goals for the- for them.
Mistakes that we cannot make, but, that's football.
And, obviously we need to improve and, and be more ready in the first minute, for sure.
You've worked with your players for a few weeks now.
I'm sure you've got a lot to work on still, but you could see confidence, belief.
That must be really pleasing.
Yeah, yes, of course.
I think, we are on our way.
We will keep improving.
We will take time, we know.
But, like I say to my players, the first thing that I want to, to see is a competitive team.
That we were tonight.
We were really competitive.
We try.
We, we try our best.
We try to play our football against a team like Chelsea.
That is not easy, and we did tonight, so that is the, the way.
Talk about your younger players- So match week one is done and dusted.
It all started when the champions beat Coventry City on Friday night.
Saturday saw newly promoted Hull City take down Manchester United, and Brentford beat Spurs 3-0.
Those were two big shocks of the weekend.
Yesterday, Brighton battered Aston Villa 4-0, while Manchester City came from behind to beat Bournemouth.
