LONDON: Cole Palmer fired Chelsea to a 1-0 win against west London rivals Fulham on Saturday as the inconsistent Blues bounced back from their League Cup embarrassment at Middlesbrough, even if coach Mauricio Pochettino’s men laboured in front of goal once again.

Palmer converted a penalty late in the first half at Stamford Bridge to erase the bitter taste from Chelsea’s shock 1-0 loss against second-tier Middle­sbrough in the semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

That League Cup calamity was just the latest disappointment in a troubled season for Pochettino’s side.

Chelsea were hardly much more dynamic against Fulham, but Pochettino will take heart from the way they ground out a third successive Premier League victory.

After a 10-day winter break, the Blues will have a chance to overturn the League Cup deficit when they return to action against Middlesbrough in the second leg on January 23.

Palmer sent Bernd Leno the wrong way with his spot kick in the dying moments of the first half after Raheem Sterling was brought down by Issa Diop’s trailing foot.

It was Palmer’s ninth league goal — two more than the Blues’ top scorer over the entirety of last season — since joining from Manchester City as a last-minute summer signing and quickly establishing himself as Chelsea’s most dangerous player.

He was criticised for missing several chances in the defeat against Middlesbrough.

“After the game I was disappointed like anyone would be missing that many chances,” Palmer told broadcaster TNT Sports. “You have those games and I’ve put it behind me and scored.”

Fulham’s best chance for an equaliser fell to Raul Jimenez whose shot forced Djordje Petrovic into a one-handed save in the 73rd minute. Petrovic had also denied Harry Wilson in the first half as the visitors tried to catch their hosts on the break.

Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher smacked the post with a shot from the outside of his boot in the 83rd minute but the final statistics showed the Blues had only three shots on target all game, a reminder of their woes in front of goal.

The win pushed Chelsea up two places in the league table to eighth, above Manchester United and Newcastle United who both have a game in hand.

Fulham, who have now lost five away games in the league in a row, remained 13th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.

On Friday, Carlton Morris scored a controversial last-gasp goal as Luton Town escaped Turf Moor with a precious point against Burnley in a 1-1 draw between two sides fighting relegation.

The hosts looked set for victory after Zeki Amdouni’s first-half goal before Morris headed in the equaliser in the 92nd minute. Burnley protested that Luton’s Elijah Adebayo impeded goalkeeper James Trafford, but following a VAR check, the goal stood.

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany was perplexed by the call, telling TNT “I don’t get it anymore”.

“There’s a clear attempt to stop the goalkeeper getting up,” he added. “It’s experience, it’s well done to try, it doesn’t take anything away from the performance for Luton, I thought they were incredible today, but it’s just the moment there the referees have got to get it right.”

Rob Edwards’ Luton are 18th in the standings but level on 16 points with 17th-placed Everton. Burnley are 19th with 12 points, having played one game more than their opponents.

“An away point in the Premier League is big, especially for a team in our position,” Edwards told TNT.

The match was all Luton before Amdouni scored against the run of play in the 36th minute after Wilson Odobert beat his man with a step-over then played the ball across the box for Amdouni to fire home his fourth league goal of the season.

The goal lifted Burnley and the game that marked the return of the Premier League after a 10-day break was evenly matched the rest of the way.

Luton kept pressing and they were rewarded in debatable fashion when Morris nodded home from 10 yards after Adebayo’s block sent Trafford sprawling.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024