Chelsea 0-0 Fulham: Blues frustrated by Fulham in goalless draw as Enzo Fernandez makes debut

Chelsea could be 11th in the Premier League by the end of the weekend
Enzo Fernandez could not get off to a winning start at Chelsea
AFP via Getty Images
Matt Verri3 February 2023

Chelsea’s big-money signings were unable to have an immediate impact as the Blues were held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk started for Chelsea, two of those to have been brought in during the January transfer window, but it was a familiar story of attacking woes for Graham Potter’s side.

Kai Havertz was denied by the woodwork just before the break but that was as close as the hosts came, with Bernd Leno rarely threatened. Fulham were well worth the point they picked up, one that lifts them into sixth in the Premier League, even if they were given a huge scare as David Datro Fofana had a shot cleared off the line late on.

Fernandez was handed a Chelsea debut, just 48 hours after completing his move, while Mudryk made his first start after impressing off the bench against Liverpool.

It was a relatively disjointed display from the Blues for much of the first-half, Fernandez showing plenty of promise as he dropped deep to pick up the ball but options ahead of him were limited.

The two best chances of the half fell to Havertz, the first of which he sent over the bar on the stretch before his lobbed effort on the stroke of half-time sailed over Bernd Leno and bounced back off the post.

Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke were among those brought on by Potter, the strength in depth clear to see, but the fluidity still did not come for the Blues in forward areas.

Aleksandar Mitrovic tried his luck from 50 yards out, and gave Kepa Arrizabalaga huge problems as the Chelsea goalkeeper scrambled back onto his line to clear, while Willian threatened on his Stamford Bridge return.

Fofana very nearly came on and scored his first goal for the club, as he got on the end of Gallagher’s ball over the top. The striker went round Bernd Leno, chopped inside past Issa Diop but found Tim Ream waiting to clear the shot off the line.

Chelsea could well find themselves 11th in the table by the end of the weekend - they have scored just 22 goals in 21 Premier League matches.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in