Chelsea ratings vs Fulham: Cole Palmer back to his best but Robert Sanchez dreadful | OneFootball

Debutants shine across the park as Xabi Alonso enjoys positive first match

Chelsea made a winning start to their first season under Xabi Alonso with a thriller at Craven Cottage.

Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer all found the net in a 3-2 win over Fulham to gift Alonso victory in his first competitive game.

But goals from Josh King and Gonzalo Garcia included errors from Robert Sanchez and exposed defensive weaknesses.

However, three points will have left Alonso delighted.

Dom Smith was at Craven Cottage to rate the Chelsea players’ performances…

Robert Sanchez 2

Saved from King unconvincingly in the first half and then conceded at his near post to King before palming back out to Garcia for Fulham’s second. Very poor.

Josh Acheampong 6

A couple of last-ditch tackles and blocks helped to clear the danger for Chelsea, but there were nervous moments in there too - including a poor back-pass to Sanchez.

Maxence Lacroix 7

A fine debut for Lacroix, who defended well and produced a great and unexpected run to assist Rogers for the second.

Levi Colwill 5

Didn’t have the best game at the back for Chelsea, and wasn’t alert as Fulham scored their second.

Had limited influence from wing-back on a game won and lost in different areas of the pitch from where the Frenchman was operating.

Reece James 6

One effort on goal forced Bernd Leno into a decent save but was otherwise quite quiet. Booked for fouling King.

Romeo Lavia 7

Had a big impact in the middle of the pitch for Chelsea, starting ahead of Moises Caicedo who was injured.

Jorrel Hato 6

Quite good on the ball but sloppy when he took too long to take a throw-in and it was then handed to Fulham instead.

Cole Palmer 8

Worked tirelessly and was rewarded with an assist and a goal to begin the season with a bang. Pulled up with a hamstring pull late on - nothing seriously - and asked to be subbed in the following two minutes.

Had a quiet Chelsea debut to begin with, but really grew into the game and opened his account by scoring the second with a late arrival.

Joao Pedro 8

Off to a flying start for the season, scoring the opener after 31 seconds and then doing brilliantly to assist Palmer for the third.

Subs:

Enzo Fernandez (Lavia, 65’) 5

Heavily booed by both sets of supporters as he came on in the second half, though there were also some Chelsea fans who chanted his name and clearly want him to stay.

Pep Chavarria (Hato, 65’) 6

Quite a handful down the left flank when he came on for Hato.

Pedro Neto (Gusto, 76’) N/A

Estevao (Palmer, 92’) N/A