Chelsea beat Fulham to secure their second win of the season

• Chelsea beat their south-west London rivals Fulham 2-0 on Monday night to secure their second win of the season
• Mauricio Pochettino’s side came into the encounter having failed to score in 285 minutes of top-flight football

Chelsea beat their south-west London rivals Fulham 2-0 on Monday night to secure their second win of the season. It was a much-needed and deserved victory, thanks to goals from Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja at Craven Cottage.

The Blues came into the encounter having failed to score in 285 minutes of top-flight football. However, the fans now have a reason to be happy as last night’s victory could be a turning point following the club’s poor start to the campaign.

Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 last night. Photo/ Eurosport.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men saw the result out and will hope to build on such a positive performance. The result pushed Chelsea up to 11th spot with eight points, leapfrogging Fulham, who are 13th, on goal difference. Speaking after the victory over Fulham, Pochettino said he was impressed by the performance of his players.

“The performance was fantastic — too many good things, very positive things. We need to keep working, keep believing. The belief was there … and the team today in the end got what we wanted. Now it’s about being ruthless and working really hard and finding better solutions.” ESPN quotes Mauricio Pochettino.

Chelsea’s goalscoring trouble has been one of the biggest elephants in the Premier League room. However, the fixture against Fulham showed a glimpse of hope within two minutes in the encounter when Armando Broja fired slightly over the bar.

In the 18th minute, Mauricio Pochettino’s side opened the scoring through Mykhailo Mudryk. The Ukrainian forward chested down a cross from Levi Colwill before slotting the ball past Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Unsurprisingly, the relief on Mudryk’s face was evident during the celebrations. It was his first goal since joining Chelsea nine months ago. At times in his Chelsea career, it has looked as though he was not confident in his decision making.

Pochettino has previously spoken about the need to improve Mudryk’s confidence and has been playing the ‘crossbar challenge’ with the winger after training to help. The young forward has had a mixed time at Stamford Bridge since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk in January. However, his performance last night could be a turning point in his Chelsea career as he now has confidence.

Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for Chelsea last night. Photo/ Football365.

Barely 80 seconds after Mudryk opened the scoring, poor defending by the hosts allowed Broja to double the lead. A Tim Ream’s clearance bounced off Broja and into the net, but neither the goalscorer nor his teammates cared so much as they ran to celebrate.

Broja, who replaced the suspended Nicholas Jackson, was making his first start since sustaining a knee injury at the end of 2022.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. It’s been a long time coming. We are gelling as a team. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s important for us to have that time and to keep progressing as a team.” Armando Broja spoke to talkSPORT after Chelsea victory over Fulham, as per ESPN.