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Chelsea have moved up to seventh place on the Premier League table after recording a narrow win against Fulham on Saturday.
The Blues had to dig deep in a game where they struggled to create clear-cut chances. The victory against Scott Parker’s side ends a run of three league games without a win for the west London giants.
For a side that started the season in imperious form, things have taken a downturn in recent months. Inconsistency has been the biggest challenge at Stamford Bridge, and Frank Lampard faces massive pressure to turn things around. The Blues manager paraded an experienced side against Fulham, but the performance still wasn’t impressive.
Chelsea laboured to create chances and resorted to crosses and long balls, with the hopes that Olivier Giroud would get at the end of one of them. It was, however, Mason Mount’s late goal that secured all three points for the Blues.
Chelsea’s win against Fulham was uninspiring
Chelsea may have enjoyed the majority of ball possession, but Fulham were largely comfortable throughout the game. Even after Fulham were down to 10 men following Antonee Robinson’s red card, the Blues failed to take advantage of the situation.
As it stands, Chelsea look to be short on confidence - from their manager right to the players. The sight of summer signings Timo Werner and Kai Havertz coldly sitting on the bench painted the perfect picture of how things currently are at the club.
The German duo arrived at Chelsea to huge fanfare but are yet to make any meaningful impact. Werner came on in the second half against Fulham and missed two great chances, while Havertz was an unused substitute.
Chelsea may have won, but their performance was nothing to write home about. They will need to massively improve if they’re going to make it to the Premier League top four.
Temporary leeway for Frank Lampard
Chelsea's win over Fulham offers temporary leeway for Frank Lampard, who has been under huge pressure in recent weeks. However, his team will have to be more convincing if he is to remain in the job for longer.
During his post-match press conference, the Blues boss said that his side deserved to win against the Cottagers but admitted that confidence is currently low among his charges.
Lampard said, as quoted by Goal:
"Fulham made it difficult. We started the game well, controlled a lot of the ball, it is not easy against 10 men. We kept going and we got what we deserved tonight.”
"It is a pressure to move the ball [against 10 men], hit the sides, open it up, make them run and create chances. We were doing that. Just because of the current form it is a bit harder, the confidence is not quite there. But we found it so I'm really pleased.
He added:
"I trust the quality of the players. There was a feeling we would get a goal, because the pressure was constant. It was about staying patient with our passing and I think we did."
Lampard certainly needs time to get his players to gel, but patience is a commodity that is currently lacking at Chelsea. In the meantime though, the Blues need to seriously improve after their unconvincing performance against Fulham.
