Chelsea ratings: Palmer dazzles again but Jackson misses more chances before being hauled off
COLE PALMER pulled out a cracker on Boxing Day, only for Chelsea to suffer a heartbreaking loss to Fulham.
It was a sweet sixteenth-minute strike that opened the scoring after he danced through three Fulham defenders before nutmegging Issa Diop and beating Bernd Leno with the finish.
A cagey game followed with Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill all coming close to doubling Chelsea‘s lead either side of half-time.
But disaster struck with just ten minutes to go as Alex Iwobi shrugged off Pedro Neto as Harry Wilson sneaked in at the back post to head Fulham level.
Chelsea’s misery was compounded as they searched for a late winner, only for Robert Sanchez’s long ball to go to Fulham and allow them to rampage forward with Rodrigo Muniz scoring a late winner.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the players…
Robert Sanchez – 6
Made some sharp stops to deny Calvin Bassey and Raul Jimenez in the first half before making a great save to prevent Antonee Robinson from levelling the score in the second half.
His distribution was still shaky, as it was his long ball that led to Fulham bagging the winner.
Malo Gusto – 6
Did his job well for large parts of the game, but was caused problems by the dynamic Fulham left side of Robinson and Iwobi in the second half.
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Tosin Adarabioyo – 6
Booed throughout the game by the visiting fans of his former club, but put in a great first-half performance.
He had it all for the most part before being let down by Wilson stealing behind him to get Fulham level.
Was nowhere to be seen for Fulham’s winner.
Levi Colwill – 7
Claimed what we like to call a ‘Busquets to Messi‘ assist for Palmer‘s opener as he showcased his impressive passing range again today.
Excellent link-up with Jadon Sancho on the left and was close to a perfect ten but the offside flag denied him a goal before conceding twice late on.
Marc Cucurella – 7
Gives Chelsea an added threat when he bursts down the left and makes the underlapping run past Sancho, also dealing with the physical presence of Adama Traore brilliantly.
Was inches away from doubling Chelsea’s lead before half-time with a diving header well saved by Leno.
Moises Caicedo – 6
Worked extremely hard as usual in the middle of the park to break up play and distribute to the players ahead of him, but it was a quiet game by his excellent standards.
Enzo Fernandez – 7
Energetic in the middle of the park and he added a level of composure to the Blues midfield when he got his foot on the ball.
Was denied a screamer of a goal by a great Leno save early in the second half.
Pedro Neto – 6
Troubled the Fulham defence with his direct running at times in the first half, and worked tirelessly defensively throughout.
His final ball was a little disappointing, and he was shrugged off by Iwobi allowing Fulham to equalise.
Cole Palmer – 8
Quickly running out of superlatives to describe Palmer, perhaps the greatest compliment to him is that real shades of Eden Hazard are evident in his play.
Looked dangerous from the start, and it took him just 16 minutes to capitalise on that threat with a delightful goal into the bottom left corner.
Did quieten down in the second half, however, and couldn’t create much.
Jadon Sancho – 6
Caused a fair few problems for Timothy Castagne on the left-hand side with his dazzling feet and direct running, as well as doing his defensive duties well.
A bit more composed and creative than Neto on the other flank, but had a quiet second half.
Nicolas Jackson – 4
His touch escaped him at times in the first half and his decision-making has been better for large parts of the season so far.
Seemed to struggle with the physicality of Fulham’s centre-halves.
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Christopher Nkunku (Jackson, 72) – 4
Wasn’t the attacking impetus his team needed when he came off the bench, failed to really add anything to the game.