Pedro Neto completes Chelsea’s late comeback win at Fulham

These are the moments that turn seasons. Credit goes to Enzo Maresca, whose substitutions altered the flow of this west London derby and provided Chelsea with the foundations to break Fulham’s hearts with a stunning turnaround at Craven Cottage.

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Fulham were clinging on to their 1-0 lead when Maresca took off his only striker, Nicolas Jackson, and replaced him with Tyrique George with 12 minutes left. The 19-year-old winger soon conjured a fine equaliser and there was time for Chelsea, who had not won on the road since December, to revive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League when Pedro Neto lashed in a firecracker of a shot in added time.

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Chelsea arrived with plenty to prove after underwhelming home performances against Ipswich Town and Legia Warsaw. Fulham, who have developed a knack for punching above their weight against more glamorous opponents, were never going to give them an easy ride. They are a tidy, intricate team, with pace and energy in plentiful supply down both flanks, but they also know how to put themselves about and it soon became clear that Chelsea would have to blend physicality with skill if they were to stand any chance of achieving a positive result.

The early signs were unpromising. Fulham were quick and purposeful, whereas Chelsea were skittish and slow out of the traps. Little duels unfolded all over the patch and all of them seemed to be won by someone in white, whether it was Raúl Jiménez using his wily hold-up play to unsettle Maresca’s centre-backs, Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic going toe to toe with Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo in midfield, or Ryan Sessegnon taking every possible opportunity to run at Marc Cucurella on the right.

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Sessegnon is enjoying quite the renaissance after returning to his boyhood club. The former Tottenham man played with a relish missing from many of Chelsea’s attackers during the first half and appeared to have made an immediate impact when a scramble ended with him pulling the ball back for Andreas Pereira to score in the second minute, only for the flag to go up for offside earlier in the buildup.

The visitors responded with some vague attacking patterns, many of them designed around attempting to isolate Neto against Kenny Tete on the left. Incision, though, was lacking. Only Neto looked dangerous, fizzing in one cross that just evaded a stretching Jackson.

Fulham were in front after 20 minutes, pouncing when Reece James strode out of defence and took too long to release the ball. Sessegnon crept up on Chelsea’s captain, won possession and found Alex Iwobi, who had time to size up the angles and drill a low shot past Robert Sánchez.

Conceding first for the third successive game rattled Chelsea. Fulham could have extended their lead. Berge really should have scored with a free header from a corner, only to miss the ball entirely.

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Fulham were winning most of the loose balls, leaving even Caicedo struggling for composure. The challenge for Chelsea was to raise their intensity and it was unsurprising when Maresca made two half-time changes: Malo Gusto replaced James, disappointing on a rare outing at right-back, and the insipid Noni Madueke made way for Jadon Sancho.

There was greater urgency at the start of the second half, an equaliser almost arriving when a Jackson flick found Neto in space in the area. The winger, now playing on the right, cut inside but failed to squeeze his shot past Bernd Leno.

Fulham grew edgy. The distribution was not as sharp and their defence had more to do. Leno had to field shots from long range from Neto, Sancho and Cole Palmer.

Palmer, who has not scored in 16 games, blazed over with another opportunity from a tight angle. The travelling support reminded themselves of better times with songs about Frank Lampard and Gianluca Vialli but there was a different feel as the final 15 minutes approached.

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There was not much surprise when the equaliser arrived in the 83rd minute, even if it had little to do with carefully coordinated approach play. Instead there was a long diagonal punt from the back, a knockdown from Neto and the mere presence of Palmer unbalancing Fulham enough for the ball to run to George, who pinged a beautiful shot past Leno from 20 yards.

There was time for a winner. Into the second of six added minutes, Caicedo started a counterattack with a clever flick to Fernández, opening Fulham up. Fernández advanced, exchanged passes with Neto, who spun and blasted a stunning shot past Leno in one moment, sparking wild celebrations on the pitch and in the away end.

Chelsea had done what Fulham did to them at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day. It could make the difference in their quest for Champions League football.

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