Chelsea secured a vital three points in the race for a Champions League place with a comeback over local rivals Fulham. It was a brilliant moment for the floundering Blues as they overturned a one goal deficit and recaptured some momentum in a brutally tight race for European places next season.
The match started off with little fight from the Blues as they allowed Fulham to score inside 3 minutes but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review. It was a sign of things to come in the first half as Fulham would score the opener shortly inside 20 minutes.
Reece James was dispossessed from behind, which looked to be a foul at first look, by Ryan Sessegnon who found Alex Iwobi who drilled it home from the edge of the box. The goal should not have stood after the initial foul from James but there was no review and Fulham had the advantage.
There was little for Chelsea fans to be excited about in the first half as they struggled to maintain a foothold in the match. Luckily, Fulham were not able to test Robert Sanchez much either and it was an even affair save for the goal.
Enzo Maresca made a pair of changes with Malo Gusto coming on for Reece James and Jadon Sancho replacing Noni Madueke. Both players would play big roles in the Chelsea comeback as they began to increase the pressure on Bernd Leno and the Fulham goal.
Chelsea began to grow into the game and had good chances from Pedro Neto and Sancho in the first 15 minutes of the second half that they would have buried on another day. It seemed like Chelsea would go down swinging but fail to score in another frustrating day until an unlikely hero stepped up in Tyrique George.
The teenager replaced Nicolas Jackson in the 78th minute and 5 minutes later would score the Chelsea equalizer. After a poor clearance from Fulham, the ball fell into the path of George and he drilled it home from the top of the box to send the away end into raptures. What a moment for the teenager to score his first Premier League goal.
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Chelsea continued to push for the winner and in the 93rd minute their efforts would pay off. Cole Palmer found Enzo Fernandez on the edge of the box and the Argentine drilled it across to Neto in the center of the box who took a brilliant touch before lashing it home past Leno.
It sent the away end and the Chelsea bench into ecstasy as it looked like the winner with just a few minutes left in the match. This was a mirror image of the reverse fixture as Fulham stole victory from the Blues in stoppage time at Stamfrod Bridge in December.
This victory gives Chelsea a much needed boost ahead of a visit from Everton next Saturday and moves them back into fifth place, level on points with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa but ahead on goal difference. The Blues needed all three points to keep any European hopes alive and they delivered in dramatic fashion with their first away win since December.
There is a long road ahead to secure a place in the Champions League but this was a vital win after a tough result on Thursday night.