Chelsea stroll past Fulham in the west London derby

Fulham 0 Chelsea 2. Chelsea maintained their unbeaten start to the season under Carlo Ancelotti against west London rivals Fulham with a fairly easy victory in the scorching sunshine yesterday afternoon to go second behind Spurs in the Premier League on goal difference.

Fulham were hindered from the outset by the injury in midweek to their attacking fulcrum Andy Johnson, having to move midfielder Clint Dempsey into Johnson's position and throwing the shape of the whole team, while Chelsea dropped Michael Essien to the bench.

But the Cottagers were comfortably holding Chelsea for much of the first half until a fractionally offside Didier Drogba broke through the much-vaunted Fuham defence to calmly slot home past Mark Schwarzer.

The visitors began to turn the screw in the second half, upping the tempo with some slick passing and swamping Fulham every time they got the ball into a promising position, and it was inevitable that they would score again, which they did through Nicolas Anelka in the 75th minute.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Kevin McCarra, the Guardian: "Fulham's means are limited and now they are obliged to do without their striker Andrew Johnson, who will be out for two months with a shoulder injury. It was no surprise to find the Craven Cottage manager Roy Hodgson, in his programme notes, again decrying the challenge, during Thursday's Europa League qualifier with Amkar Perm, that did the damage. Given Fulham's unhappy record, which now extends to one win in the last 26 meetings with Chelsea, the loss of Johnson may really be more telling against lesser opponents."

Daily Mail: "If Ancelotti left Craven Cottage with any concerns, they might have centred on his deployment of Frank Lampard. The England midfielder says he is comfortable playing in a more advanced role and he still had a decent game yesterday. But is he as influential as he has been in the deeper position he has occupied in previous seasons? So far it would seem not. The answer might be to play with less rigidity. Ancelotti will not want to make too many changes when his team has started so well. Even Florent Malouda is performing with consistency and emphasising the real strength in depth Chelsea now possess."

Oliver Kay, the Times: "With every game that goes by, the dire final weeks of the Scolari regime look more like a trick of the imagination. Scolari refused to play Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in tandem, but Ancelotti, in almost no time, has got them dovetailing beautifully. Both scored a goal here to earn a deserved victory over an organised but uninspired Fulham, and Ancelotti was left drooling over how they set each other up for two extremely well-worked goals: Anelka doing the spadework for Drogba in the 39th minute before the compliment was returned with 14 minutes remaining." ·