Chelsea 0-0 Fulham, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

There was plenty of hype and excitement for this game thanks to our historic January transfer window, but a lot of what Chelsea produced on the pitch was quite similar to what we’ve seen before, and not necessarily in a good way — especially in the second half.

Still, when we did step up the tempo and turned up the creativity a bit, good things were happening — despite Fulham’s ridiculous work rate and no-holds-barred challenges that were largely allowed to go on by the referee.

Enzo, as expected, made a good impact on our midfield immediately, but Mudryk was a bit anonymous in the first half. We did create a trio of good-to-great chances for Havertz, which were, in order, saved, missed, and hit woodwork. At the other end, Kepa was called into action once, and denied Andreas Pereira with an excellent save at full stretch, diving low to his right.

Chelsea made a slow start to the second half, and unfortunately were never quite able to ratchet up some consistent pressure or quality. Fulham obviously didn’t make things easy, but it was all disappointingly rather familiar. Enzo came close with a long-range effort but it was Fulham who had threatened more a couple times on the counter.

Gallagher and D.Fofana came even closer in the final ten minutes, the latter stopped only by a goalline clearance, but it was not meant to be.

It felt like a new start, but it wasn’t.

Carefree.

• Three changes from the last game two weeks ago, with James, Mudryk, and Enzo coming in for Chalobah, Hall, and the departed Jorginho.
• Madueke on at the half for Mudryk; Sterling on at the hour-mark for Ziyech.
• 60 minutes for James, probably as planned; hopefully no setbacks now
• D.Fofana also makes his debut, getting 15 minutes at the top of the formation with Havertz in support
• Chilly back for a few minutes as well; seemed not quite ready for match pace
• Another clean sheet for Silva & Badiashile
• Avoided a first ever double for Fulham over us
• Next up: West Ham away next Saturday
• KTBFFH

PLAYER RATINGS: