Fulham are flying. The club that have long been in the shadow of Chelsea got one over on their rivals as they secured a huge 2-1 victory against the Blues in the Premier League on Thursday evening.
The hosts came into the derby match three places and three points ahead of the Blues in the league - the last time they came into a top-flight match against their rivals ahead of them in the league was back in 1965.
The Cottagers outplayed and outfought the struggling visitors and goals from ex-Chelsea winger Willian and Carlos Vinicius were enough to record a huge victory for Marco Silva’s side as Chelsea’s Joao Felix had a debut to forget as he got himself sent off for a dangerous lunge.
As a unit Fulham were superb but the star who will take all the plaudits this evening is the man who spent seven years with them, Willian. The 34-year-old has been a man rolling back the years at Craven Cottage after his Premier League career looked to be over 18 months ago following a disappointing year at Arsenal. The veteran Brazilian had been scathed by Gunners supporters for his underwhelming spell in north London after an impressive seven-year spell with Chelsea.
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Things didn’t get much better for him after his Arsenal ordeal as he returned to his homeland to join Corinthians. He didn’t have quite the impact both he and the club would’ve hoped for. He signed a deal until December 2023 with the Brazilian side but he rescinded his contract in August due to the volume of virtual threats he was receiving regarding his performances.
It looked like it was a sad ending to a very decent career. Then in a shocking twist, he returned to the Premier League at the end of the transfer window, joining the Cottagers on a one-year deal. At the time it seemed like a risky signing for the newly-promoted club, but he has gone on to be a shrewd piece of business for Silva.
Even when you thought he’d been brought in as a useful squad player, he has gone on to become a key player for Silva and his efforts have helped propel them into the European qualification picture. Fulham have been making it fourth time lucky for Silva in the Premier League after his spells with Hull City, Watford and Everton not going so well.
With the way his current team are playing he has certainly learned from past mistakes and he now has a group who are not only well-drilled but look excellent. Willian has turned a few heads with his rejuvenated displays this term and he now has five goal involvements in the Premier League for the Cottagers and he is as key as the other 10 players on the pitch as they appear to be getting stronger with each passing game.
To a man they each know their roles and the same couldn’t be said for their bitter rivals who are still a defensive mess despite the efforts of their best defender Thiago Silva. Willian’s neat footwork tormented the club he used to be a weapon for and it didn’t take long for the Blues to double up defenders on him to try and keep him quiet.
They tried but failed and he got Craven Cottage bouncing with his strike to open the scoring in the first half. It may have taken a deflection off Trevoh Chalobah but Willian got the credit he deserved despite not wanting to celebrate against his former employers. He became the 26th former Chelsea star to score against them in the Premier League.
Another Arsenal flop, Bernd Leno was also continuing his fine form since moving to west London with some crucial saves on the night to deny the likes of Felix and Kai Havertz. Andreas Pereira was troublesome once again and got another assist to his name to tee up Vinicius’ winner as the understudy number nine scored his first top-flight goal - and what a game to get it in. Pereira is another player who has been thriving in this Fulham side as he was always deemed never good enough during his spell with Manchester United.
Silva has assembled a squad of players with points to prove and this has unleashed their quality and this victory is a new beginning for the Cottagers in this west London derby.
They have now won four top-flight games on the bounce for the first time since 1966 and they are up to sixth in the table, above Liverpool, just two points behind Tottenham Hotspur and four points off the top four. This remarkable season is showing no signs of slowing down and you now have to wonder how far the Cottagers can go this year.
