In the Premier League on Monday, Chelsea defeated Fulham 2-0 thanks to goals from Mykhailo Mudryk, who scored his first goal for the Blues, and Armando Broja, who was celebrating his full return from injury.
Prior to their trip to Craven Cottage, Mauricio Pochettino’s incredibly expensive team had failed to score in each of their previous three league games and had only scored five goals in six league games this season.
But they took control of the West London derby in just two minutes of the first half. In the 18th minute, Ukrainian winger Mudryk received a cross from Levi Colwill and headed the ball past Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno. A minute later, Broja doubled the lead thanks to a shaky Fulham defence.
It was Mudryk’s first goal since joining Chelsea nine months ago, and Broja, who was starting in place of the suspended Nicolas Jackson, had not played since suffering a knee injury at the conclusion of 2022. After an hour, he was replaced, stepping out awkwardly with Chelsea’s medical team’s assistance.
Ian Maatsen, who was brought off the bench at halftime after Mudryk also got hurt, nearly made it three for Chelsea in the 62nd minute when he hit the post, but the visitors cruised to just their second league victory of the year.
With eight points as a result of the outcome, Chelsea has jumped Fulham, who is in 13th place, on goal differential.