Chelsea 2-0 Fulham: Fernandez stars as Maresca's side make it back-to-back wins
Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernadez stole the show as Chelsea battled to a hard-fought 2-0 win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez scored one and set up another for Joao Pedro as Chelsea made it back-to-back Premier League wins with a 2-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday.
Joao Pedro followed up his goal in the thrashing of West Ham with the opener at Stamford Bridge, heading home from Fernandez's left-sided corner nine minutes into first-half stoppage time.
A lengthy period of additional time came after referee Robert Jones had overturned Josh King's breakaway strike following a VAR review, in what would have been his first goal for Fulham.
Rodrigo Muniz's foul on Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up was spotted after a VAR review, and another similar intervention brought Chelsea's second goal after 56 minutes.
Fernandez converted from the penalty spot after Ryan Sessegnon was deemed to have handled Chalobah's attempted cross, though Fulham felt Joao Pedro had also used his arm moments before.
Joao Pedro and Estevao both went close to a late third goal before the former cleared off the line from Sander Berge in the closing stages.
A first home win of the season moved unbeaten Chelsea top of the table, at least temporarily, on seven points, while Fulham are 14th on two after their maiden defeat of 2025-26.
Data Debrief: Joao Pedro shines again
Chelsea remain unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League in 2025 (P12 W9 D3), with Liverpool and Aston Villa the only other ever-present sides this calendar year to remain undefeated at home.
Joao Pedro became just the fourth player in the Premier League era to score five or more goals in his first five starts across all competitions for Chelsea, joining Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham.
Fernandez has now also had a hand in nine goals in 11 appearances for the Blues across all competitions (four goals, five assists), since and including last season's Conference League final.
Meanwhile, Fulham became the sixth side in Premier League history to face a penalty in each of their first three games in a season, and were the first team to do so since Newcastle United in 2021-22.
Boosted by Fernandez's penalty, Enzo Maresca will feel it was a deserved victory after accumulating 2.39 expected goals to Fulham's 1.09.
