Source: SKY_Sports
Chelsea v Fulham live!
90+4 The whistle blows for full-time and Chelsea have secured a fine derby win, but it was hard-fought at times and Fulham have hardly embarassed themselves at The Bridge. A blow to Roy Hodgson's hopes of Europa league qualification, but roll on Wednesday for Chelsea![LNB]90+3 No joy from the corner and Chelsea clear[LNB]90+2 After being twice retaken, Murphy eventually fires over via a clip off a Chelsea head[LNB]90 Fulham win a free-kick 25-yard from goal[LNB]88 Lampard sets up a 30-yarder for Mikel, only to see the midfielder slice it wide[LNB]86 The good news for Wednesday is that Nicolas Anelka has looked in fine fettle. What a difference a goal can make for confidence[LNB]84 Didier Drogba makes way for Franco Di Santo[LNB]83 Malouda gets down the left and crosses for Anelka to flash a header wide[LNB]81 Terry nearly gets to it, but loses sight of the ball and Fulham clear[LNB]80 Malouda earns Chelsea a corner as his cross is crowded out[LNB]79 Danny Murphy goes rampaging around the pitch to try and break it, and nearly earns a yellow card in the process[LNB]78 A lull in proceedings! 78 minutes and that's about the first time...[LNB]75 Not a good day for Fulham strikers. Johnson fails to make the squad, Nevland goes off early and now Zamora is having to limp off for Olivier Dacourt[LNB]74 Even Bosingwa is at it, the Portuguese firing a long-range shot wide of goal[LNB]73 Fulham can't be faulted for their style of play today even if the scoreline looks bad. They continue to work the ball neatly despite surely being deflated[LNB]71 ...but Ballack loops his header over[LNB]70 Hughes clears a cross on the stretch and it's corner to Chelsea[LNB]69 Chelsea fans are on their feet in celebration, but it's narrowly wide from Drogba who slides in to meet Anelka's cross at the front post[LNB]68 Fairly embarassing moment for Bobby Zamora who does wonderfully to get in behind the defence before allowing Cech to practically come to his feet and pick it up[LNB]66 Diomansy Kamara lets fly from 20 yards and sees his shot spin just wide with Cech at full stretch[LNB]65 Malouda tries to get across Pantsil in the box, but the ref is having none of it as the Frenchman tumbles to the floor[LNB]63 Great skill from Anelka turns him clear of Murphy in the middle, only for his through ball to evade Didier Drogba. This is a different Chelsea from the side that took the stalemate in Spain[LNB]60 Some calls for handball in the box as the corner comes in, but Fulham clear and Drogba returns to the pitch to the relief of the Blues faithful[LNB]59 Lampard strikes the free-kick and Schwarzer tips the central strike over[LNB]58 More importantly though, Didier Drogba took an inadvertent blow to the head and has been down for several minutes[LNB]56 Malouda flies at the Fulham defence and is clattered over by Hangeland on the edge of the box for a free-kick[LNB]55 They may be down by two, but Fulham are not giving up - to those who said 6-1 you may be right, but it could just as easily be 4-4!?! That's the kind of game it is...[LNB]53 GOAL!!! Fulham are on the attack, but within seconds it's 3-1 to Chelsea, Anelka slipping in Drogba to slot home under the body of Schwarzer[LNB]51 More lovely intricate play in the box by Chelsea before John Pantsil pulls off a magnificent sliding tackle on Frank Lampard as he lines up to pull the trigger[LNB]50 Well, it almost came - Zamora breaking through the Chelsea defence and crossing for Kamara who misses conecting with the ball by mere inches[LNB]48 Three minutes gone and no goals? How boring...[LNB]46 10-year-oldAndreas Loizou wants his Chelsea boys to keep pushing to secure the win and put pressure on Liverpool, regardless of the Barcelona game[LNB]45 And we're back![LNB] Essien and Alex make way for Ballack and Ivanovic as Chelsea rotate ahead of Barca[LNB] On the betting front, Chelsea are now 2/15 for the win with SkyBet while Fulham are incredibly 18/1 and the draw 5/1[LNB] Meanwhile, United fan Gordon Carlo is crossing his fingers for another 4-4 to see Chelsea's title challenge extinguished for good[LNB]Sean Sweeney thinks that his Blues are getting their attacking game going in preparation for Barca, hence the defensive frailty[LNB]Kanak has his own novel theory about the unusually loose defending today, and in recent weeks: "I know it sounds really stupid, but i think of late teams have a mutual understanding to defend poorly and score many goals so as to attract audiences during this economic crisis". Forget the budget, football is how this country will claw its way clear of crisis[LNB]45+2 More good work from Chelsea on the attack, but the half time whistle blows to end a thoroughly entertaining half. Chelsea do deserve to be ahead, although in this game you could never rule out Fulham with just a one-goal defecit. More cracking football to come (hopefully!)[LNB]45 Just as I say the fans are not responding, Sam Adamson emails in to predict a 4-1 win for Chelsea[LNB]45 Some heavy pressure from Chelsea late on in the half[LNB]44 The resulting corner is wasted, but Chelsea attack once again with Essien smashing wide from range[LNB]42 And Frank Lampard gets in on the act, his deflected shot in the box skipping slowly wide of the goal with Schwarzer totally wrong footed[LNB]41 A floated cross finds Malouda to control beautifully at the back post, only for the Frenchman to see his shot blocked at close-range[LNB]40 Well, Chelsea and Fulham fans may be quiet but Liverpool fans are getting involved - Mala Bwaybeeh hoping Fulham can win and keep the Blues at bay[LNB]39 ...but the set piece comes to nothing[LNB]38 Kamara and Pantsil work the ball down the right and pull it back for Zoltan Gera to loop a deflected shot over for a corner[LNB]37 And Kamara's first act is to slam into the back of Mikel with a poorly timed tackle in the middle of the pitch[LNB]35 Erik Nevland, who has been star of the show in this game, is sadly coming off to be replaced by Diomansy Kamara[LNB]33 If Fulham can slice open the Chelsea defence as frequently as this then will Barcelona be able to do the same?[LNB]32 Drogba wins a free-kick in a shooting position, but Frank Lampard blazes over from the set-piece[LNB]31 Shellshocked? Concerned? Excited by the opening? Let me know by emailing rob.carragher@bskyb.com[LNB]30 Nevland is down and the play grinds to a halt[LNB]29 Nevalnd nearly breaks through the Chelsea defence, but the ball slips away and John Terry clatters in to clear[LNB]28 Drogba goes down writhing in the box, but Konchesky got a good piece of the ball and the ref waves play-on[LNB]27 There's some great football going on at times here with both teams playing with a certain freedom and flair[LNB]26 Great one-touch football gets the ball to Lampard in the box, but Hangeland shepherds him away and the move breaks down[LNB]24 Cech gathers the aerial ball though and Chelsea break[LNB]23 And it's Murphy once again to win the corner via a deflected long-shot[LNB]22 Murphy tries to pull the strings for the Cottagers, only to see his through ball trickle into Cech's arms[LNB]21 Drogba slots another into the back of the net, clearly in the knowledge that he had been flagged for offside[LNB]19 Well, a hectic start but it's all quietened down now while the teams trade possession in the middle[LNB]16 This time it does though as Bobby Zamora meets Paul Konchesky's cross to head just wide of goal[LNB]15 Fulham finding a lot of space around the pitch, but the final ball is not quite finding the man[LNB]13 Fulham nearly back on level terms once again as Dempsey chests on for Nevland who smashes a volley just over from the edge of the box. Cracking stuff![LNB]12 Drogba almost get himself in behind the defence via a long-ball but Schwarzer comes out to gather[LNB]11 Well, for two of the tighest defences in the land this has been very loose stuff![LNB]10 GOAL!!! No surprises that it's another goal and it goes to Chelsea. Poor defending from Pantsil sees Didier Drogba's cross find Florent Malouda who smashes home at the back post[LNB]8 Chelsea are taking control of the possession now but Fulham are fired up and chasing down everything[LNB]6 End-to-end stuff so far as Frank Lampard attempts a chip into the top corner which spins wide[LNB]5 Cech should have done better with what was a fairly speculative shot from Nevland, but no matter, it's 1-1[LNB]4 GOAL!!! Would you believe it - Fulham are back level already courtesy of Erik Nevland! The Norweigan breaks free on the right and fires a shot across Petr Cech which the keeper cannot keep out[LNB]3 Fulham have not capitulated though with Murphy and Gera firing in shots[LNB]1 GOAL!!! And it's Chelsea in front already. Lovely passing move from the Blues sets up Nicolas Anelka free in the box to finish from close-range[LNB]1 And Fulham get us underway at the Bridge![LNB]Renzo Cordina wants his Cottagers to keep the faith and look to the impressive win over Manchester United for inspiration![LNB] As kick-off approaches, just a reminder to keep your emails coming in throughout the game via rob.carragher@bskyb.com and I'll get your best insights up on the site.[LNB]Prince Cassidy Oyeledun thinks Chelsea's poor form against the London clubs this season means that they must field their strongest side. "Take it one game at a time, irrespective of the Barca tie" he says.[LNB] First email of the day and Dan Morris believes that Chelsea had to field their strongest team, it being derby day and all. He also fancies Fulham to leapfrog Everton into sixth by beating them on the last day of the season![LNB] And interestingly, Danny Murphy is a generous 18/1 to grab the first goal, which must be worth a few quid given his penalty prowess.[LNB] If you fancy a flutter on the game today then SkyBet are offering Chelsea at 4/9 for the win, Fulham 7/1 and the draw 3/1.[LNB] Send me your views on all this and more by emailing in to rob.carragher@bskyb.com and I'll get your best messages up on the site![LNB] And Fulham fans, how will your side cope without Andy Johnson up front?[LNB] Will it work to their detriment when they line-up against Barca on Wednesday?[LNB] Is fielding such a strong team the right call from Guus Hiddink?[LNB] The visitors meanwhile are missing Andy Johnson up front, which is a considerable blow to their chances at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.[LNB]Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Dempsey, Etuhu, Murphy, Gera, Zamora, Nevland. Subs: Zuberbuhler, Kamara, Dacourt, Gray, Stoor, Baird, Smalling.[LNB] The home side go for a surprisingly strong line-up considering their midweek tie against Barcelona, with only Michael Ballack having to settle for a place on the bench.[LNB]Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Lampard, Essien, Mikel, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba. Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Ballack, Kalou, Belletti, Mancienne.[LNB] The teams are in so without further ado...[LNB] Good afternoon and welcome to our live minute-by-minute commentary of the derby clash between Chelsea and Fulham![LNB]
