Chelsea miss chance to keep pressure on Liverpool as Fulham win at Stamford Bridge


Stuart James
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Chelsea squandered the chance to maintain the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League as visitors Fulham battled back to win 2-1 on Boxing Day.

It was Fulham's first victory at Stamford Bridge for 45 years.

The home side took the lead through Cole Palmer after 16 minutes but Fulham substitute Harry Wilson got his side back in the match with an 82nd-minute equaliser before Rodrigo Muniz snatched a winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

It was the second week running that Enzo Maresca's side had fluffed their lines after they could only draw with Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

Wilson's equaliser was the first goal Fulham have scored at Stamford Bridge since Clint Dempsey netted in a 1-1 draw on Boxing Day in 2011.

Elsewhere, Newcastle beat Aston Villa 3-0 thanks to goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton, Nottingham Forest beat Tottenham 1-0 after Anthony Elanga's strike, and West Ham made it four games unbeaten after Jarrod Bowen gave them a 1-0 win at Southampton.

Things did not look promising for Fulham when England star Palmer put Chelsea ahead after 16 minutes.

Levi Colwill played the ball into Palmer’s feet about 40 yards out before he jinked away from Andreas Pereira and went past Sasa Lukic near the edge of the area.

Palmer then applied the finish, almost nonchalantly passing the ball through the legs of defender Issa Diop and into the corner of Bernd Leno’s goal.

It was Palmer’s 26th league strike of 2024, beating the Chelsea record for Premier League goals scored in a calendar year set by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in 2001.

But with eight minutes left, Wilson headed in the equaliser at the far post, then five minutes into stoppage time, Lukic squared for Muniz to score in the bottom corner and snatch a memorable win for the visitors.

Joelinton of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's third goal against Aston Villa with Alexander Isak. Getty Images
Joelinton of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's third goal against Aston Villa with Alexander Isak. Getty Images

After goals from Gordon, Isak and Joelinton gave his side a 3-0 win over 10-man Aston Villa, who had striker Jhon Duran sent off in the 32nd minute, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: "I love Alexander Isak, he has unbelievable quality. He's the right age, has the right athletic profile, I signed him and love him. I wouldn't swap him for anyone.

"Tonight? I will go back and watch the game again and see where we can improve. We go to Manchester United on Monday with real quality and confidence."

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson said after their 1-0 win over Spurs thanks to Elanga's 28th-minute goal: "I think we're doing really well at the minute. The lads are buzzing in there, as you can hear, it's a great win.

"[The team spirit] is massive. Team spirit is very, very good. Everyone is buzzing. I think we work so hard and it is paying off. It is good."

On Elanga's form, he said: "I think everyone knew he is always at it. You've just got to believe in him and know that he can bring these moments. He's flying at the minute and hopefully, it continues."

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2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier. 

2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus

2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.

2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.

2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.

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Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz

Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw

Trent Rockets: Colin Munro

Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson

Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock

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Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

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Updated: December 26, 2024, 6:42 PM