Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty gave Chelsea a narrow win over West London rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
Palmer’s reverse pass set up Raheem Sterling, who was caught by Issa Diop inside the penalty area.
Palmer dispatched the spot-kick, sending Fulham keeper Bernd Leno the wrong way to net his ninth goal since joining the Blues in August.
Conor Gallagher almost added a late second when his sweetly struck effort using the outside of his boot cannoned off the far post.
Chelsea kept Fulham at arm’s length and held on for their third consecutive victory to jump to eighth in the table.
The visitors stay in 13th and have lost four of their past five matches.
Fulham still stuttering on the road
Fulham’s poor away run continued. The Cottagers have lost their past five league games on the road and were beaten 2-1 at Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Marco Silva’s side had the best chance of the opening exchanges when Antonee Robinson’s low cross found Harry Wilson at the back post, but the winger’s effort from a tight angle was kept out by the feet of Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic.
In the 74th minute Petrovic superbly denied Fulham’s Raul Jimenez with a low diving save to his right after the forward met Andreas Pereira’s cutback.
The match’s outcome may have been different if referee Anthony Taylor had chosen to send off Chelsea defender Malo Gusto with the game goalless in the 39th minute.
The France right-back caught Willian above his ankle, but the video assistant referee (VAR) was happy to uphold Taylor’s decision to award Gusto a yellow card.
Fulham face Liverpool in the semi-final second leg on 24 January.
