A bit of luck and a lot of VAR: Chelsea brush Fulham aside in small London derby

Chelsea didn't play superbly, but still won. But let's believe the quote that claims that's the feature of the greatest teams. Either way, the Blues should shout "Long live the VAR" after the clash against Fulham, as video technology practically brought them triumph.

First, it disallowed the Cottagers' early opener, causing a long break. The first half was prolonged for nearly ten minutes, and in the ninth minute of stoppage time, Chelsea broke the deadlock over Joao Pedro after Enzo Fernandez's corner kick.

Shortly after the break, VAR once again reacted and this time awarded the Blues a penalty, which Enzo sent home for a 2-0 lead. That goal completely disheartened the visitors and allowed Chelsea to peacefully await the end of the match and celebrate their second triumph of the season.

Even though the two rivals had as many as 13 shots combined in the first half, it was nowhere near interesting.

On the contrary, Chelsea struggled to take control of the game, as Fulham were way more concrete. In the 21st minute, the Cottagers scored over Joshua King. However, VAR intervened and disallowed the opener, as Rodrigo Muniz had made a foul on Trevoh Chalobah during the action.

Fulham boss Marco Silva was furious but didn't know that it wasn't the end of his "issues" with the referees.

Ten minutes later, Muniz had a massive chance that Robert Sanchez stopped, though the Brazilian was offside anyway. Nevertheless, it was clear that the visitors were a much more dangerous team, and one reason behind that could be the fact that Enzo Maresca was forced to sub off the injured Liam Delap already in the 14th minute and replace him with Tyrique George.

Nkunku swaps London for Italian fashion capital

Considering the injury and the VAR intervention, the referee, Robert Jones, added as many as eight minutes in the opening half and let the teams play for ten. And guess what? In the ninth minute of stoppage time, Chelsea scored from their first chance, causing the absolute rage of Fulham's bench!

Enzo Fernandez took a corner kick from the left side and found Joao Pedro, who headed the ball in, scoring his second Premier League goal for the Blues.

Still, the way the first half ended for the Cottagers, the second period began - perhaps it was even worse. Several minutes into the second half, Ryan Sessegnon handballed in the box. The VAR room was checking the situation for at least five minutes and the decision was - a penalty for Chelsea! The Blues' captain, Fernandez, was impeccable from the spot, making it 2-0 early in the second 45 minutes.

As if the second home team's goal completely crushed Fulham's hopes, the visitors were quite disheartened since that moment. On the other hand, Chelsea had several attempts to score the third goal over Estevao and Joao Pedro, but as the end of the match approached, Maresca's men were more focused on defending their advantage.

And they accomplished their mission, as the Cottagers barely threatened until the ref's final whistle. Therefore, after an opening draw against Crystal Palace, Chelsea recorded two important wins over West Ham and Fulham, and now can peacefully await the international break.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 3

Saturday

Chelsea - Fulham 2-0 (1-0)

/Joao Pedro 45+9, Fernandez 56 pen/

17.00: (1.40) Man.Utd. (4.60) Burnley (8.00)

17.00: (2.85) Sunderland (3.20) Brentford (2.55)

17.00: (1.75) Tottenham (3.60) Bournemouth (4.90)

17.00: (2.65) Wolverhampton (3.15) Everton (2.80)

19.30: (3.35) Leeds (3.45) Newcastle (2.15)

Sunday

16.00: (4.30) Brighton (3.60) Man.City (1.85)

16.00: (1.75) Nott.Forest (3.50) West Ham (5.00)

18.30: (2.20) Liverpool (3.45) Arsenal (3.25)

21.00: (1.95) Aston Villa (3.50) Crystal Palace (3.90)

***odds are subject to change***