Fulham vs. Chelsea: Palmer stars as Alonso gets off to winning start - as it happened

play
Alonso: Fernández is still a Chelsea player (0:37)

Cole Palmer rediscovered his best form as Chelsea beat Fulham 3-2 in a thrilling west London derby.

The midfielder was at the centre of everything good for Chelsea, providing the assist for João Pedro's opener, being heavily involved as Morgan Rogers scored the second, and getting on the scoresheet himself for the third.

- Fulham vs. Chelsea: TV channel, how to watch in UK, kick-off time, live stream, team news, referee, predicted line-ups

- Chelsea 2026-27 predictions: Top scorer, biggest concern, Premier League finish, more

Goals from Josh King and Gonzalo García were not enough to salvage a point for Fulham, as Xabi Alonso won over former teammate Álvaro Arbeloa.

The two Spanish coaches arrive at their new clubs in very different circumstances. Alonso has taken over at Chelsea after they endured a torrid season playing under Enzo Maresca, Calum McFarlane, Liam Rosenior and then McFarlane again.

The club finished 10th in the Premier League, meaning they will play no European football this season.

Fulham finished one place below, but were a picture of relative health after five seasons under Marco Silva, who has since departed to join Benfica.

In an effort to improve their fortunes, Chelsea have done a lot more than just bring in Alonso. The club have brought in a total of 11 players so far this summer: Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, Valentín Barco, Emmanuel Emegha, Pep Chavarría, Denner, Danny Welbeck, Dastan Satpaev and former Liverpool and England captain Jordan Henderson.

In terms of outs, Andrey Santos and Marc Cucurella have left for big money to join Manchester United and Real Madrid, respectively, while Trevoh Chalobah has moved to Como and Tyrique George to Everton.

Fulham have also been busy, signing two players Arbeloa worked with at Real Madrid in Gonzalo García and César Palacios, as well as defensive midfielder Shea Charles and young striker Jonah Kusi-Asare.