RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The opening stages of this contest only confirmed what many had anticipated before a ball had been kicked this term – when Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers line up for Chelsea, Xabi Alonso has an irresistible attacking triumvirate at his disposal.
After his previous campaign was hampered by fatigue and injuries that ultimately cost him a place in Thomas Tuchel's plans at the World Cup this summer, Chelsea playmaker Palmer delivered an instant reminder of his match-winning talent in west London.
His nonchalant flick set Joao Pedro on his way and his second-half goal underlined a fine performance.
While there was also evidence that Alonso has been able to impress his ideas on the squad with some neat positional interchanges, notably for their second goal, there were also some familiar failings on show.
A lapse of concentration cost Levi Colwill a booking and his manhandling of Josh King shortly after was inadvisable at best for a player already on a yellow card.
There will also be the inevitable inquest over whether Robert Sanchez is a competent enough number one for a club with aspirations of winning the biggest trophies on offer.
The 28-year-old Spaniard had already made an unconvincing start to the new campaign with two elementary distribution errors to put his team under unnecessary pressure, when he left a huge gap at his near post to allow King to drive home an equaliser.
While further errors from Colwill and Sanchez contributed to Fulham's second, fortunately for Alonso, moments of defensive uncertainty were outweighed by the quality of Palmer and co at the other end of the pitch.
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