Fulham 1-3 Chelsea: A composed and classy hat-trick from German winger Andre Schurrle ensured a huge win for Chelsea in the West London derby.
Three second half goals in the space of 16 minutes, all from Andre Schurrle, gave Chelsea yet another massive 3 points in the race for the title.
Chelsea’s fans mood will have been boosted even more so with London and title rivals Arsenal dropping all three points in a 1-0 defeat away to Stoke City.
Chelsea lined up without Brazilian winger Willian as he was rested and demoted to the bench. International teammate Oscar came in alongside Andre Schurrle and Fernando Torres- the Spaniard looking to follow up his goal in midweek against Galatasaray.
A poor first half looked all too familiar from Mourinho’s men; a lack of penetration against a struggling team, with Fulham even having the best chance of the 45 minutes.
Clint Dempsey, playing his last game on loan at Fulham before returning to the MLS, should have at least tested Petr Cech with his header, but the American put it wide.
The hosts were forced to replace a crucial figure in their team, with Brede Hangeland being replaced by 21 year-old Dan Burn after sustaining a head injury.
Jose Mourinho, along with the majority, if not all Chelsea fans, was incredibly disappointed with his side’s first half display.
Credit to MrBeanymanHowever, the Portuguese revealed that he didn’t rip into his side at half time like many believed he would:
“I told them nothing. Not a word. I walked in, then I walked out. A great reaction to their worst performance of the season”
In the second half, along with the obvious improvement from Andre Schurrle, Eden Hazard also demonstrated the form that he had been displaying in games such as the 3-0 win over Newcastle.
It took the blues just seven minutes from the restart to go in front, with the Belgian clipping the ball over the top to Andre Schurrle before the German lost his defender and calmly slotted past Maarten Stekelenburg.
Much to the delight of the Blues fans, Chelsea pushed on for more goals – something not demonstrated in games such as the draws with West Brom and Galatasaray.
It was not long before the pair combined again, this time Eden Hazard slipping a ball through to Schurrle, who once again tucked away with the composure you’d expect from a striker playing for the League leaders.
It took just three minutes for the German to complete his hat-trick with another easy looking finish whilst one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Fernando Torres claimed the assist for Chelsea’s final goal.
Love this ball:)) 3 important points!! Thanks for your support!! #blues #behappy pic.twitter.com/ynEASr3xzO
— André Schürrle (@Andre_Schuerrle) March 1, 2014
The winger, who can also play as a striker as demonstrated when playing for Bayer Leverkusen, now has five goals in his last three starts for the Blues.
The hosts pulled one back as Chelsea yet again failed to defend a corner as Johnny Heitinga scored a consolation goal for Fulham.
Jose Mourinho summed the derby with one of football’s oldest cliches, but was understandably delighted with his team’s second half display:
‘This was a real game of two halves; the first was very poor and the second was brilliant, it was a great three points for us.’
This marked newly appointed manager Felix Magath’s first home game in charge of Fulham and also marked his first defeat following a 1-1 draw with West Brom last week. His side find themselves 5 points from Premier League safety with 10 games to play.
As mentioned, Chelsea moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League, with many now thinking it’s a two-horse race between the Blues and Man City following Arsenal’s defeat at Stoke.
The Manchester side hold the advantage over Chelsea, with the opportunity to go top on goal difference if they win their two games in hand.
Chelsea’s next game is yet another London derby, this time at home to Tottenham next Saturday. The reverse fixture finished 1-1 at White Hart Lane.
