Chelsea 2-0 Fulham
There was a collective cry of anguish from the Chelsea bench in the 12th minute of the west London derby as Liam Delap pulled up, clutching the back of his right thigh before gingerly pigeon-stepping off, down the tunnel.
Yes, Joao Pedro – easily man of the match in the weekend's 2-0 victory over Fulham – can play up front, backed by others in the Blues' formidable forward line. But Enzo Maresca's attack team was being built round a strong target man, and losing Delap with hamstring trouble for, potentially, weeks on end is a blow
It capped a largely forgettable first half at the Bridge. The only moment of drama in normal time came when Josh King broke free, ran to the Matthew Harding end and netted, before VAR cancelled the goal out for a foul in the build-up.
But deep, deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time that ref Robert Jones added, Pedro rose and headed home an Enzo Fernandez corner, leaving Blues fans buoyant as they headed off for their half-time lagers.
Shortly before the hour mark, Enzo was on target himself from the spot after (to Marcus Silva's predictable fury) Chelsea were awarded a penalty for a Ryan Sessegnon handball.
"Three games, seven points; I'm very happy," said the Chelsea manager afterwards as – briefly – the Blues topped the Premier League table. "We deserved to win. Second half, we were completely brilliant!"
The arrival of Alejandro Garnacho from Man Utd has added to an already busy transfer summer, with the 21-year-old watching his new teammates from the stand on Saturday lunchtime. It seems a good fit; Garnacho, 21, was a Chelsea fan as a kid, and brings yet more youthful energy to this young and oh-so watchable side who could yet develop into a serious threat to Liverpool, Arsenal and City.
The Blues next travel to Brentford for a Saturday evening game on 13 September.
The WSL is back
But now the spotlight turns to Chelsea Women, with Aggie Beever-Jones the hat-trick star on Saturday as the team ran out 4-1 victors against AC Milan in a warm-up friendly at Kingsmeadow. Jo-Jo Rytting Kaneryd scored the fourth.
This Friday night, the team open their Women's Super League season against Man City at Stamford Bridge at 7.30pm. Prior to kick-off, there will be a pre-match parade around the pitch of the Euros trophy that the Lionnesses retained during a memorable summer for the women's game.
Six Chelsea players, and four City stars, were in the England squad in Switzerland, so both sets of supporters will have plenty to cheer.
Then Chelsea are away to Villa before hosting Leicester City at Kingsmeadow for a noon kick-off on Sunday 21 September. Tickets available from £6.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
