Jorginho’s first goal since the opening day of the season and some late heroics from renegade goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga saw Chelsea squeeze past lowly Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Arrizabalaga, whose recall to the side prompted widespread condemnation from pundits and fans, came to the fore in the second half as he produced three world-class saves to deny Fulham an equalising goal.
One such save to keep out Alexander Mitrovic’s header will steal the headlines, as Maurizio Sarri was all but vindicated for including him in his starting line up.
Fulham have conceded 65 goals this season and their open expansive style was picked apart with ruthless regularity by the Chelsea forward line.
Willian linked up well with the overlapping Cesar Azpilicueta who centred the ball for the onrushing Gonzalo Higuain, and the Argentine finished low into the net for his third Premier League goal of the season.
Claudio Ranieri’s departure was hoped to have alleviated the tempestuous atmosphere swirling in the West London wind, and Calum Chamber’s effort from a corner seemed to have instilled some fight back into the Whites.
The clouded optimism of a team who are beset on relinquishing their spot in the top flight was soon extinguished, as Jorginho made a long overdue impact further up the pitch placing a crisp low strike into the corner just four minutes after Fulham had restored parity.
Ryan Sessegnon had a late goal ruled out for offside but it was to be Chelsea who triumphed over their not so noisy neighbours to secure their first Premier League away win of 2019.
