Mykhailo Mudryk’s wait for his first Chelsea goal ended after his strike alongside Armando Broja saw the Blues beat Fulham for only their second league win of the campaign.
Mudryk has had a mixed time at Stamford Bridge since signing for £89m in January from Shakhtar Donetsk but his first-half performance looked as though it could be a turning point in his Chelsea career.
The Ukrainian scored his first goal for the Blues inside the opening 18 minutes, just 82 seconds after Armando Broja netted his first goal since October 2022 following a serious knee injury to double the visitors’ advantage, as Chelsea moved up to 11th in the Premier League.
Marco Silva made six changes to the Fulham side that beat Norwich City in the EFL Cup last week, with Bernd Leno, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Harrison Reed, Andreas Pereira and Raul Jimenez all returning to the first XI.
As for Chelsea, Pochettino made three alterations to the lineup that won 1-0 against Brighton & Hove Albion in the EFL Cup last time out, with Broja handed his first start in nearly 11 months, replacing the suspended Nicolas Jackson up front, while Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez returned in centre-midfield.
Fulham did not create much and their best chance came from Sasa Lukic in the second half when his shot from inside the six-yard box was well saved by Robert Sanchez.
Mudryk was withdrawn at half-time with a quad injury but boss Mauricio Pochettino was hopeful the winger would be fit enough to play on Saturday.
Chelsea will look to claim back-to-back Premier League victories when they travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley on Saturday, while Fulham will hope to return to winning ways when they play host to Sheffield United on the same day.
