Chelsea’s Loftus-Cheek seals journey back to reality for Ranieri’s Fulham

Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek celebrates scoring his side’s second goal.

This ended up appearing comfortable, a routine victory mustered by a team aspiring to close the gap to the leaders against a side anchored to the foot of the division. 

More revealing was the fact the defeated manager, Claudio Ranieri, departed the more encouraged and citing reasons to be cheerful while Maurizio Sarri, victorious in a grind of a derby, bemoaned the nerves that had gripped his own team’s approach.

At no point, aside from celebrating his side’s goals, had Chelsea’s head coach given the impression he was satisfied as he prowled the edge of his technical area.


The fallout from the first defeat of his stewardship, against Tottenham Hotspur the previous weekend, had actually rumbled on disconcertingly through this fixture. He recapped his frustrations from that loss at Wembley in his post-match assessment, reminding all present that “Eleven players had played very badly at Spurs, so today it was natural to give them another chance”.

They had come steeled by the pep-talk delivered in one-on-one meetings with Sarri earlier in the week but for all that they started eagerly for once and scored in the opening 20 minutes of a Premier League game for the first time since mid-August, insecurities had flared thereafter. Their display had been anxious in the second half.

“But this was only about the result,” said Sarri. “We were a bit nervous. It wasn’t easy the days after Tottenham for me and the players, but I think that we have thought too much about that match. We lost one match after three and a half months.

It can happen. So today it was important to react.” They can prepare for Wednesday’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the hope normal service has been resumed. Certainly the slick construction of their second goal, all neat inter-play between Eden Hazard, Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the edge of Fulham’s box, was a reminder of their qualities.

Hazard’s burst into the penalty area drew opposing defenders to the ball, with the pass poked sideways duly liberating Loftus-Cheek into space vacated by Maxime Le Marchand. The England midfielder’s finish was emphatic, a fifth goal in six club games completing the success. He continues to stake his claim for greater involvement.