Fulham Go Down To Chelsea 1-0 At Stamford Bridge

Going into the match I would have been happy if Fulham could come away with a point. The shocking thing is that they actually had two second half chances to do just that. Unfortunately for Fulham, Chelsea were just too tough and dominant in this game. Chelsea only scored once, but that was enough to win the match. Fulham go down to Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.    

The first half was pretty much controlled by Chelsea. However, they really turned up the heat coming up to the half hour mark. In the 29th minute, Drogba had a great shot on net from a long distance away that was saved by Schwarzer.

In the 30th minute, Chelsea would grab the lead in the match. Kalou sent a great cross to Essien inside the box who headed the ball past Schwarzer. Chelsea were then up 1-0.

Chelsea were pressing hard for a second goal before the half ended. In the 42nd minute, Kalou had a great chance to score, but his shot just went wide of the net. 

Fulham really struggled in the first half, but were only down 1 goal. Fulham went into the half down 1-0.

The second half saw Chelsea come out strong once again, but somehow Fulham's defense kept them in this match.

In the 68th minute, Chelsea put together a barrage that I still can't believe they did not score on. Malouda first had a strike on net, and that was followed up by a shot from Mikel. Then, the ball went to Ivanovic who passed it to Essien and his shot was again saved by Schwarzer. He showed today why he is so important to the Cottagers.

After surviving this situation somehow Fulham came alive with two quality chances to possibly get even in this match. In the 72nd minute, Dempsey had a deep strike that Cech had to make a nice save on. In the 82nd minute, Gera had a great shot from distance on Cech, but again he was able to make the save on this play as well. 

Fulham would fight to the end of this game, but Chelsea were just too powerful. Chelsea ultimately won the match 1-0.

The positives for Fulham though were the play of Matthew Briggs who hung in there at left back. In fact all of the Fulham defenders were excellent keeping the Cottagers in the match. The other encouraging aspect of this match was that Fulham pushed until the end to try to get a point. If there is anything positive to take away from a loss I think Fulham's resolve and determination is very encouraging for the future.