LONDON (AP) — Cole Palmer made up for his misses in midweek by scoring a penalty to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday for a third straight Premier League victory.
Palmer sent Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno the wrong way from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Raheem Sterling had been tripped in the area.
It was the 21-year-old Palmer’s ninth league goal of the season and fifth from the penalty spot, as the former Manchester City player has emerged as the most successful of Chelsea’s many expensive off-season signings.
And it came after Palmer was guilty of a number of wasted chances on Tuesday — including a glaring miss from close range — when Chelsea lost 1-0 to second-tier Middlesbrough in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals.
“After the (Middlesbrough) game I was disappointed, like anyone’s going to be missing that many chances and costing the team the game,” Palmer told broadcaster TNT. “People know you have those games, so just had to try and put it behind me.”
Chelsea has won three straight league games for the first time under manager Mauricio Pochettino and extended its league winning streak at home to four matches — its best run at Stamford Bridge in 3 1/2 years. This latest win lifted the Blues provisionally above Manchester United and Newcastle into eighth place.
Another positive for Chelsea was seeing defender Ben Chilwell back for the first time since September following a lengthy injury layoff.
“Been a while, so just happy to be back,” Chilwell said.
However, Chelsea may have been fortunate to not go a man down when Malo Gusto escaped with just a yellow card for a studs-up challenge on Willian in the first half.
Fulham was coming off a 2-1 home win over Arsenal in its last league game but has struggled on the road all season. The visitors had few quality chances at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea needed goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic to deny striker Raul Jimenez from scoring an equalizer in the 73rd.
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