Player Ratings: Fulham 2-1 Chelsea

Here are the ratings after a joyous victory in the SW6 derby.

Marco Silva made it three victories over the blue shi*e in three seasons - as many as all other Fulham managers combined in top flight history - thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez and man of the moment Harry Wilson. It takes the Whites to six unbeaten in the Premier League, taking 14 from a possible 18 points in that time to rocket the Whites into the top half. With a fun cup tie in between now and our next league game at Elland Road offering the perfect opportunity for a bit of rotation, it’s an exciting time in the season for Fulham. This’ll be fun…

Bernd Leno

Thought he started calmly and confidently, with his distribution looking less erratic. Made a decent punch from Chelsea’s first corner but struggled thereafter to assert any dominance in an array of packed six-yard box scenarios. His ball over the top in the lead up to the Cucurella for the red card was an outstanding piece of instinctive awareness that put us straight on the front foot. Made a string of important saves with the game at 1-0. First was the standout close range save as Delap went through, then came a strong low save from Caicedo before a front post effort from Palmer. Those attempts all came between the 64th and 70th minute, giving us the platform to find a winner 10 minutes later. One of his best performances for a long time, even if it didn’t produce a clean sheet. 8/10

Issa Diop

Thought he asserted his aerial dominance well throughout. From a defensive point of view he defended his own box in the air particularly well in the first half, as well as having a decent headed effort drift wide at the other end just after half time. Thought he was frequently proactive, pushing Chelsea back on and off the ball. Did well adapting from right centre-half in a five to left centre-back in a four in the second half, with his level not dropping from a change in role. Blocked a number of half chances in the second half, was just always in the right place at the right time. 7.5/10

Joachim Andersen

Definitely an improvement on how he’s performed in the last couple of games where errors have dramatically come into his game. There were still a few here where he stepped out and left the centre of defence wide open, one of which was nearly jumped on by Delap, thankfully Leno came out to save the Dane. Thought bar that though, he was half decent at keeping Delap at arm’s length from goal. His challenge in Chelsea’s defensive third to keep up our attack which led to Jimenez’s goal was a superb piece of play that potentially went unnoticed but deserves a lot of credit. 6/10

Jorge Cuenca

Looked like the best ball player on the park by an absolute mile and that’s saying something when you’re on a pitch with Tom Cairney, Raul Jimenez and some geezer in Jedi’s pocket called Cold Palmer. Like Diop, I thought Cuenca was superbly proactive on and off the ball, constantly trying to relieve any pressure in that first half. Probably ended up being the fall guy for the change of system due to a late yellow card in the first half. 7/10

Timothy Castagne

Maybe the Belgian’s best game in the black and white. You could tell he was up for it in the opening minutes in the way he put in some superb, strong and decisive tackles from the off, setting the tone and getting the crowd up straight away. He offered so much more than he normally does in the final third, getting up and down his wing even more so than Robinson did, with a dangerous final ball more evident than usual. The way he defended against Neto was outstanding too, constantly standing him up and never over-committing, showing supreme patience and concentration every time. The only time Neto ever had joy on the ball was when he ran to the other side of the pitch to get away from Castagne. If he played that way every week, Tete’s injuries would never be an issue, an absolutely outstanding performance. 9/10 – man of the match

Sander Berge

Another who, like Castagne, hasn’t been at his best this season, but was absolutely marvellous in the derby. On the ball he set the tone in the middle by frequently taking the game to Chelsea, revealing the ball carrying abilities that we know are within him but so rarely are evidenced in games so far in his Fulham career. Even whilst taking such a proactive approach, his ball retention didn’t lapse, his 96% pass completion the best of any starter on the pitch. His cross to set up Raul for a rare assist was perfectly placed for him to run onto, the cherry on top of a brilliant showing. Loved the commitment he showed to defend an early Chelsea corner too, pushing Andrey Santos back onto the bar before blocking the rebounded goal bound effort too. 8.5/10

Tom Cairney

Didn’t particularly do much wrong but don’t think he offered much either. He was steady with the ball and often looked silky moving the play from side to side but as the game went on you could tell he felt a bit leggy and a couple of lapsed passes left us slightly vulnerable on the counter attack. Had a couple of pops from range but bar that his attacking input was minimal. 6/10

Antonee Robinson

The way he played at both ends of the pitch here was an unbelievable contrast. Defensively superb. Cole Palmer rarely got anything out of Jedi who kept tight to him and constantly had him turning his back to goal. At the other end, he was terrible. Every final ball was misplaced and offered Chelsea an opportunity to either slow play down under pressure or create a transition of their own with Robinson high up the pitch. Defensively a nine, attacking play a three, we’ll have to go down the middle to level it out. 6/10

Harry Wilson

At times I’ve said that I think Wilson frustrates me because for all the moments he has, there’s games like at Selhurst where he’s completely anonymous. However, this doesn’t feel like a purple patch anymore. He’s on for a season of 20+ goal contributions which would be a remarkable feat for a Fulham player in the Premier League were he to achieve it. He looked hungry throughout. Within two minutes he had a right-footed effort stopped by Sanchez at the front post. His run beyond Cucurella had the Spaniard sent off and then an offside call on Raul denied Wilson a first half opener after a quality finish. Then, minutes after having another close range effort blocked as he fell to the fall, came Harry’s crowning moment (yes, another one). His composure to take a touch before hitting a beautiful finish with his weaker foot, his first Premier League goal on his right, was magical. His goals in local derbies will give him iconic status forevermore. 8.5/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Like against Liverpool I think he struggled playing out wide. I think being stuck on the left restricts how often he gets on the ball and in those moments where he does get it, there’s an evident frustration when bodies aren’t going beyond him like they do when he’s in the ten position, and that’s an issue when he doesn’t then instantly resort to taking his man on to force the issue the way in which Kevin does, for example. Had one ferocious effort fly just over the bar just before half time, that would have been a screamer. 6/10

Raul Jimenez

Felt like a bit of a frustrating first half for Raul, with a lot of his clever touches not coming off like they regularly would and obviously with the offside call on him that denied Wilson the opener in first half added time. There was a hell of an effort from him to always be the man pushing high to put pressure on Sanchez and that effort never stopped, some of the pressing runs he made after 90 minutes were like those you’d expect from a fresh-legged teenage sub. Loved how well he defended corners, heading away anything that didn’t quite get over the front post into the danger zone they were aiming to cause us issues from. His header to open the scoring was phenomenal, getting ahead of his defender with pace before diverting his header into the corner with too much power for Sanchez to stop it. 7.5/10

Substitutes

Kevin

Came on at half time for Cuenca to facilitate a change of shape. Had a rocket of a strike hit the side nettings not long after his introduction and clearly offered more wide than Smith Rowe had. Loved the way he contributed defensively, with a couple of fantastic clearances in our own defensive third and one or two really strong, brave tackles. While his flick in the corner with 95 minutes on the clock may not have been sensible, I loved that he wanted to show off the individualism inside him, finding that balance between being well-disciplined whilst continuing to be confident in his own talents is important. 7/10

Sasa Lukic

Played the last 20 in place of TC and offered some much needed running in the middle of the park. What I really enjoyed was the initiative he seemed to take off the ball, often pressing beyond Raul and the rest of the midfield, always looking to put the pressure back onto Chelsea and frustrate them in their build up as they got more and more desperate for a late goal. 6.5/10

Ryan Sessegnon

Really impressed with how well he replaced Robinson after a few weeks out. Acheampong constantly got forward towards the end of the game trying to create overloads on that side but Sess kept him in his pocket. His attacking contributions were far more telling than Robinson’s too, offering so much support to Kevin down the left and putting in a far higher quality of cross than the American had. 7/10

Harrison Reed and Adama Traore on too late to be fairly assessed.

Marco Silva

Silva’s third win over Chelsea puts him into a bracket that most Fulham managers in history could only dream of being in. I often believe (and still do) he goes into too many games too negatively but I can’t say that today, which is even more impressive considering our current lack of depth. He set his side up to be fearless on and off the ball, with our wider centre-backs stepping up often to support us in transition and then Berge especially pushed us forward on it. Ok, it didn’t suit every player in the system (Smith Rowe comes to mind), but he adapted to the game situation by taking more initiative against the 10 men by moving to a back four and giving the wingers more freedom.

His subs all worked, with Reed and Lukic giving needed legs to the middle of the park and Kevin and Sess giving us momentum down the left hand side, Off the ball, he put together a superb game plan (as he did against Liverpool), which all eleven followed to a tee to give us a real steeliness. OK, he shouldn’t allow himself to get booked in the moment he does as it sets a bad example, but that’s about all you can critique him for here. A superb tactical display from the boss. 9/10