Fulham beat Chelsea 2–1 in the SW6 derby at Craven Cottage, with a decisive Harry Wilson goal in the 81st minute, extending a positive run that’s starting to reshape the club’s place in the Premier League. The match was defined by Marc Cucurella’s early red card in the first half and an open second half, with chances at both ends despite Chelsea playing with a man down.
The result lifted Fulham to 31 points, level with Chelsea, and stretched Marco Silva’s side’s unbeaten run to six games. The Blues, meanwhile, walked off with yet another red card on their record, their fifth in just 21 league matches.
Red card shifts the game as VAR steps in
Chelsea started on the front foot and created the first real chances. In the 19th minute, Andrey Santos rattled the crossbar from a corner, and moments later Bernd Leno denied Moisés Caicedo on the rebound. Not long after, in the 22nd minute, the game took a sharp turn. Cucurella was sent off for pulling down Harry Wilson as the last defender after a long ball from Leno, a decision later upheld by VAR.
With the extra man, Fulham pushed higher up the field. Still in the first half, Wilson thought he’d scored a fine goal after a pass from Sander Berge, but VAR ruled it out for a razor-thin offside by Raúl Jiménez earlier in the move. The score stayed level heading into the break.
Open second half ends with Wilson deciding it late
Fulham got their reward after the restart. In the 55th minute, Jiménez met a pinpoint cross from Berge and powered a header into the corner to open the scoring. Chelsea, down to ten, didn’t fold. They leaned on set pieces and found an equalizer through Liam Delap, who scored his first Premier League goal for the club by pouncing on a loose ball in the box after a corner.
The goal sparked a spell of pressure from Chelsea, with Leno making key saves to deny Delap, Caicedo and Cole Palmer. Fulham answered back with long-range efforts and stayed active in the attacking third.
Then, in the 81st minute, Harry Wilson showed up again. After Robert Sánchez pushed away a shot from Emile Smith Rowe, the Welshman reacted quickest, finishing right-footed from the rebound. The ball took a slight deflection off Reece James on its way in, sealing the win for the home side.
Wilson now has seven goals this season and has been directly involved in 11 Fulham goals in the Premier League. Chelsea, watched from the stands by Liam Rosenior, who officially takes charge in the FA Cup, leave with another defeat and a clear list of issues demanding immediate attention.