The Blues lose the derby to Rosenior

Chelsea‘s first game since Liam Rosenior was appointed manager ended in defeat thanks to a late goal from Harry Wilson. Fulham a 2-1 win in the west London derby.

Rosenior watched from the stands at Craven Cottage after being confirmed as Enzo Maresca’s successor, and will take positives from the resilience they showed after going down a man and a goal.

Marc Cucurella’s 22nd-minute dismissal dramatically altered the plan interim boss Calum McFarlane had in mind, and when Raul Jimenez headed Fulham in front 10 minutes into the second half, they had a mountain to climb.

It looked like they had salvaged something from the situation after Liam Delap equalized with his first Premier League goal for the Blues.

But Wilson dashed Chelsea’s hopes of taking a point nine minutes from time with his seventh league goal of the campaign.

Cucurella sees red

Enzo Fernandez’s set-piece from the corners caused havoc for Fulham in the early stages, with Bernd Leno forced to nervously clear a moving cross towards goal, before Andrey Santos headed towards the crossbar from close range as he met another brilliant ball into the box.

Yet the game took a huge turn in Fulham’s favor when a long Leno punt proved Cucurella’s undoing, the Spaniard bringing down Harry Wilson in a clear denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, the only saving grace for Chelsea being that the foul was not deemed to have continued into the box.

Tosin Adarabioyo, Fernandez and Cole Palmer were all cautioned for their complaints as a result, with Fulham boss Marco Silva also warned amid the fallout, a yellow which means he will watch their next game from the stands.

Santos was replaced by Jorrel Hato to fill the void left in defense by Cucurella’s dismissal, and Chelsea managed to frustrate Fulham for much of the first half despite being at a numerical disadvantage.

It looked like Fulham had broken them when Harry Wilson fired home from just inside the area in first-half stoppage time, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside following a VAR check.

Wilson breaks Chelsea hearts

Yet Fulham continued in the ascendancy and, after Wilson saw an effort narrowly deflected, they broke the deadlock as Jimenez rose to meet Sander Berge’s delivery with a header that proved too powerful for Sanchez to keep out from nestling into the bottom right corner.

Kevin nearly doubled Fulham’s lead with an ambitious long-range effort, but they were given a warning when Delap was sent through on goal, only for Bernd Leno to match his effort.

Moises Caicedo and Palmer then tested Leno before Fulham were pegged back as Delap broke his Premier League duck for Chelsea, heading home after another Fernandez corner ended up hitting the woodwork.

Fulham, however, were undeterred by the setback and it fell to Wilson to settle the contest in style, the Welshman showing superb control to collect the rebound after Robert Sanchez had pushed away Emile Smith-Rowe’s back before firing a half-volley through the legs of Reece James and beyond the Chelsea keeper.