Fulham 3-1

Independent:

Fulham 1 Chelsea 3
Andre Schürrle stars as Chelsea pull four points clear
German’s rapid hat-trick extends the Blues’ lead at the top of the Premier League to four points

By GLENN MOORE

The scoreline may suggest otherwise, but this was another afternoon when Chelsea ground their way to three points, stirring neither the blood nor the soul. A 16-minute hat-trick by Andre Schurrle was enough to stretch their Premier League lead to four points courtesy of Arsenal losing in the Potteries, but there remains a sense that Jose Mourinho's Chelsea Mark II, like the first edition, are efficient rather than thrilling. Facing the league's bottom club it was not until first-half injury-time they even had a shot on target.
Any team with Eden Hazard and Oscar in it will always produce watchable moments, and it was the Belgian who provided what sparkle there was with another bewitching performance. He laid on two of Schurrle's goals and Fernando Torres should have converted a spectacular rabona (crossing with the 'wrong' leg).
In mitigation Fulham could point to the absence of Brede Hangeland who was forced off early on after clashing heads with Kieran Richardson. His replacement, the promising Dan Burn ,was at fault for all three goals. Hangeland went to hospital and Fulham were awaiting news on him after the match. They could also draw some hope from their general competency, which is an improvement on most of their season, but they will need inspiration as well as perspiration to earn the wins required to survive. Creating that has always been harder than instilling work-rate.
One of Mourinho's gifts is making creative players work hard. Another is drawing attention from poor performances and onto himself. He did this again revealing he had not said a word at half-time, but instead absented the dressing room leaving his team to stew. He was, he said, so disappointed with the first half ten minutes would have been insufficent to make all his points.
“The start was really bad for us, a really bad first half,” he said. “Fulham had big motivation because they need the points to stay in the Premier League but we spoke of this before, we cannot let them have more motivation than us. In the first half that was not the case. But in the second half my team changed the intensity of their game. It was a game of two halves, the second half we were brilliant.”
Chelsea have had a demanding week but Mourinho's pre-match complaints about this fixture's scheduling on Saturday afternoon having played in Istanbul on Wednesday night cuts no ice. He could have freshened his team up with players of the quality of Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Samuel Eto'o, John Obi Mikel and Mohamed Salah. Instead he made just two changes, Nemanja Matic and Oscar replacing Frank Lampard and Willian. Magath made more a trio, the most perplexing of which was the replacement of Lewis Holtby with Clint Dempsey who has been a shadow of his former self since returning to Fulham on loan from Seattle.
For all the talk of Fulham being tough opposition for Chelsea the home side had only won one of the previous 35 derbies. They may have brought off a shock had they scored first, and they did have chances to do that. In the second minute Pajtim Kasami beat Branislav Ivanovic on the left but Dempsey jumped just too early and the cross skimmed off his head, and over. In the 21 minute Kasami won possession, Kieran Richardson broke, but after his cross found Dempsey the American was unable to get his shot off. Shortly before the interval a free-kick routine that suggested training has not just been about lapping the pitch ended with
Kasami drilling a low shot, but it was a straightforward save for Petr Cech. A minute before the break, came the best chance, Dejagah's cross reaching an unmarked Sidwell at the far post. The midfielder has been in scoring form this season, but he blazed wide.
Chelsea had been desperately poor. One kick from Cech ran all the way through to Martin Steklenburg, another punt forward, from Ivanovic deep inside his own half, did the same. So when, at one point, Mourinho lambasted Torres the striker could justifiably have asked what he was supposed to do with a series of long balls given he was competing with the giant Burn. Torres should, though have done better when Steklenburg delayed a clearance so long Torres blocked it, then won the loose ball, but shot wide.
In injury-time Chelsea stirred and Steklenburg made a sharp save from Torres' volley. They returned from the break sharper, smarter, steelier. Six minutes into the period Shurrle ran behind Burn onto Hazard's long pass and coolly converted. After Torres failed to do Hazard's rabona justice the German skipped off Burn again, this time onto a short Hazard pass. Two-nil. Burn, his mind doubtless in turmoil, was then beaten by Torres in the air, the striker also feeding Schurrle for his third (Richardson dozing this time). He became the third German after Fredi Bobic (Bolton) and Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham), to score a Premier League treble.
Fulham kept battling and John Heitinga tapped in after Cech misjudged a corner. The 'keeper then did well to hold a deflected shot from Giorgos Karagounis. Fulham subsequently twice got in good positions on the right, but Sascha Reither over-hit his cross, then Ashkan Dejagah failed to deliver the ball at all. It was that sort of match. Chelsea though, had Hazard, and Schurrle.

Fulham (4-4-1-1): Steklenburg; Reither, Heitinga, Hangeland (Burn, 15), Richardson; Dejagah, Parker (Karagounis, 80), Sidwell, Kasami (Holtby, 62); Dempsey; Bent.
Substitutes: Stockdale, Riise, Kvist, Rodallega.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Oscar (Mikel, 78), Hazard, Schurrle (Luiz, 86); Torres (Ba, 82).
Substitutes: Schwarzer, Cole, Willian, Lampard.

Referee: M Clattenburg
Man of the match: Hazard
Match rating: 5

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Observer:

Chelsea beat Fulham with hat-trick by 'forgotten man' André Schürrle
Dominic Fifield

They had been craving an instant impact from a German in these parts, though Fulham might now suggest the scriptwriters rather muddled their thinking. André Schürrle, a peripheral figure at Chelsea, on his third start since New Year's Day, emerged from the visitors' initial lethargy to settle this derby and propel his side four points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
His hat-trick, scored in 17 second-half minutes, was devastating, a lesson in ruthless finishing to remind Felix Magath that the crushing weight of this division is heaped upon Fulham.
Chelsea had previously seen only flashes of this quality from the man prised from Bayer Leverkusen for £18.7m last summer, but displays such as this illustrate the true strength in depth to their attacking options, even with the lack of strikers in the ranks. They are imposing when those creative spirits behind the frontman ally bite with invention, the interplay between Schürrle and Eden Hazard too much for Fulham.
The German's movement has always been clever but it was his finishing that truly caught the breath. In slamming home his third goal in that madcap period just after half-time, when the hosts utterly disintegrated as a defensive force, Schürrle doubled his tally for the season.
"It's something I expect from him," said José Mourinho. "He's in a learning process in relation to the Premier League, up against teams who fight. It's difficult for him to play 90 minutes for us, doing things he's never done in his life, but what I expect from him is cold blood. In front of goal, he's not the kind of guy where the goal becomes very small. He normally scores. He sees the keeper's reaction, he can score with right or left, and is a good finisher. This is what I expect from him."
Schürrle performed here, albeit only after that dismal opening period, when Fulham had the bustling energy and the visitors had been dreadful, all over-hit passes, slack tracking and laboured movement. That midweek trip to Istanbul clearly had an effect, even with tweaks made to the starting lineup. Mourinho had been so disgusted he had refused to speak to his team at the break, apparently for the first time in his career, ensuring the onus was on his players to mount their own revival. Hazard and Schürrle stepped up thereafter, with Nemanja Matic more influential in the centre, and quality duly told.
Their opening goal exposed Fulham's frailties. Schürrle, having collected a throw-in from Branislav Ivanovic and found Hazard, was allowed to dash, unchecked, into the home half to collect the Belgian's return pass. The home substitute Dan Burn was flummoxed by a clever header across field, which bought the forward space in which to charge, and he finished calmly through Maarten Stekelenburg's legs.
"I've seldom seen a goal like that first one, where Schürrle runs the whole field and nobody tackles him," Magath said. "He can run 90 metres without contact? I have never seen this before." The absence of Brede Hangeland, who had departed after a clash of heads with Kieran Richardson, was keenly felt.
The goal settled Chelsea. Hazard bamboozled Fulham with those trademark outrageous flashes of skill, and Fernando Torres went close to converting a staggering rabona – a cross sent over with his right foot wrapped around the back of his standing left leg – and the home side were suddenly exposed. They could not quell Hazard's threat and when he was allowed to advance into enemy territory his pass was perfect for Schürrle, having eased off Burn, to score a second across the exposed Stekelenburg.

The hat-trick was secured while Fulham still quaked at the brutality of it all, Torres beating the beleaguered Burn in the air and then spinning a pass into space. Schürrle, played onside by Johnny Heitinga, eased on to the ball and dispatched it gloriously with his right foot. Displays like this remind Chelsea that they secured a gem from Bayer Leverkusen last summer. He will have more to offer in the run-in.
Fulham must find some inspiration of their own in their final 10 matches to avoid the drop and – even with nothing more than Heitinga's consolation upon which to cling, after the visitors dithered at a corner – they can be mildly encouraged by their initial industry.
There had been balance to their opening period, even if glimpses of goal were fleeting. Burn failed to make contact from point-blank range and Steve Sidwell blazed high when well placed. Clint Dempsey nodded wide in the opening three minutes. "But today nothing happened," said Magath. "Nobody expected us to win, but we did not play like a relegated team in the opening 45 minutes."
There are more winnable contests than this in the weeks to come, not least at Cardiff on Saturday. The German can still have his impact. Fulham must hope it is as memorable as that made by his compatriot.

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Telegraph:

Fulham 1 Chelsea 3
By Jason Burt, at Craven Cottage

This was a first for Jose Mourinho. He did not speak at all to his players at half-time. Not a single word. Such was his low opinion of their stunningly flat performance. It was the first time, he later said, he had ever felt moved to behave like that during his long, illustrious, enlivening managerial career.
But then Mourinho always retains that capacity to surprise; ever the showman. “It was silent. Like that,” he explained. “Normally I give them two or three minutes for them to advise, to clean or change boots or shirts.
“After that they know that I will start talking. They were there, ready and waiting for me, but I was not ready for them. I decided not to speak because, if I started to speak about the first-half, I’d need more than the 10 minutes of half-time. I decided not to speak, they showed they were very intelligent.”
Who gave the team-talk? “I left. I don’t know,” Mourinho said, adding that he had gone and stood outside until the players were called back to the pitch.
“Yes (it was the first time I’ve done that), in Chelsea, for sure. In my career, perhaps also. I haven’t had many first halves like this one. Very, very bad.”
Actions speak louder than words and Mourinho’s behaviour provoked a response withChelsea gaining the victory that, suddenly, takes them six points clear of Manchester City, having played two games more, a gap that could grow to nine before City play again in the league, and four points ahead of Arsenal who have played the same number of matches.
It felt decisive and Fulham, the league’s bottom team, will desperately hope it is not decisive for them also.
A German was victorious in Felix Magath’s first home game in charge but it was André Schürrle who took the honours – scoring a hat-trick and showing the “cold blood”, as Mourinho put it, that he expects in front of goal.
It was only the third hat-trick by a German in the Premier League (after Jurgen Klinsmann and Fredi Bobic, back in 2002 for the latter) and there was a chill also from Magath when strangely asked whether he had congratulated his countryman. “I send André congratulations,” he said. “But it was unnecessary.”
There is hope. “I cannot expect us to win against the leading team in the Premier League,” Magath reasoned.
“No one expected us to ... there is hope. We played well for the first-half and we need to do that for 90 minutes and we will win.”
But it will be back to the training ground for Fulham’s players who engineered their own downfall – as much as Chelsea raised their game with Eden Hazard the standout performer despite Schürrle’s hat-trick – through some woeful defending.
They will also fret about the condition of captain Brede Hangeland who departed during the first-half and was taken to hospital, apparently concussed.
Magath identified Hangeland’s absence as crucial to the eventual collapse; Mourinho leaned more towards his players waking from a stupor in which they “walked” through the first-half as they struggled to recover from having played less than 72 hours earlier in Istanbul in the Champions League.
Mourinho was right. Maybe it was the lactic acid in his players’ legs.
Maybe it was Magath’s steely organisation of Fulham. But for 45 minutes this contest was a turkey direct from Turkey. It meandered, almost lifeless, sleepy by the Thames in the bright spring sunshine.
Something had to give – as Mourinho demanded.
There was a fine save, from a Fernando Torres cross-shot, by Maarten Stekelenburg and a bizarre tangle between the two players after the Fulham goalkeeper blundered, but nothing else.
And then Schürrle scored. He flicked on Branislav Ivanovic’s throw-in and set off at pace to run onto Hazard’s clever chip forward. But it owed much – as did his other two goals – to Kieran Richardson switching off and suddenly Schürrle was bearing down on goal to easily beat Stekelenburg with a low shot.
“I have seldom seen such a goal,” said an incredulous Magath. “He ran 90 metres without any contact. I have never seen that before.”
He was shaking his head again soon after. This time Hazard, who had already executed a wonderful ‘rabona’ cross (where the kicking leg is wrapped around the back of the standing leg) to deliver a headed chance to Torres, which he fluffed, again created space to superbly slide a pass through to Schürrle.
He took it in his stride and sent his low shot back across Stekelenburg and into the net.
The hat-trick came when a goal-kick by Petr Cech was headed on by Torres and Richardson was again caught out, watching, allowing Schürrle to run in behind and fire a shot into the corner. It was that routine and it was over.
Fulham clawed a goal back when, from a corner which Cech allowed to run across his goal, Darren Bent turned the ball back for Johnny Heitinga to poke it over the line, but it was barely a consolation. Fulham’s plight is increasingly acute with just 10 games to go and a four-point gap to claw back.
They have improved dramatically but the fear is where will the goals come from? Also can they really hope to overhaul three of the teams above them?
Chelsea, meanwhile, are top of the pile and it is starting to look ominous for their rivals.
“I’m there now but if City win the two matches they’re top,” Mourinho argued. “The gap is a fake advantage.
“We have four points more than Arsenal, the same number of matches. I’m there for now, but if City win the two matches they’re top. We have four points from Arsenal and Liverpool, but not yet on City.”
It was another showman’s line. Just like that half-time stunt.

MATCH DETAILS
Fulham (4-4-2) Stekelenburg 5; Riether 4, Heitinga 5, Hangeland 5 (Burn 16, 6), Richardson 4; Kasami 5 (Holtby 62, 6), Sidwell 6, Parker 6 (Karagounis 80), Dejagah 6; Dempsey 6, Bent 5. Subs Stockdale, Riise, Kvist, Rodallega. Booked Dejagah, Kasami

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Cech 5; Azpilicueta 6, Terry 6, Cahill 7, Ivanovic 5; Matic 6, Ramires 7; Hazard 8, Oscar 6 (Mikel 78), Schurrle 8 (Luiz 87); Torres 5 (Ba 79) Subs Schwarzer (gk), Cole, Lampard, Willian. Booked Ramires

Referee Mark Clattenburg
Attendance: 24,577

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Times:

Fulham 1 Chelsea 3: Blues increase gap at top with Schurrle hat-trick

Ian Hawkey

AT THE half-time break, Jose Mourinho kept his own counsel. After a week in which his off-the-record laments about a sketchy roster of strikers were broadcast, and, here, a 45 minutes in which his complaints about travel schedules tiring his players appeared to have acted as self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps that was the best policy. “I said nothing,” reported Mourinho of his interval strategy.
Silence evidently worked, because the Premier League leaders upped several gears, defeating Fulham thanks to a hat-trick from Andre Schurrle. “He is a good finisher,” acknowledged the manager of the German.
Chief creator and galvaniser, though, had been Eden Hazard, who lifted Chelsea against a Fulham side that started soundly but then lost momentum. At first, the Premier League’s bottom club seemed eager, ready and even able to exploit any tiredness in their visitors, Mourinho’s squad having arrived back from Istanbul before dawn on Thursday after their Champions League game.
There was indeed doziness apparent in the first period, although one principle offender in that respect would be the Fulham goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg. Taken unaware by a charge towards him while teeing up a routine clearance by Fernando Torres, the striker’s alertness created the best first-half opening for Chelsea.
If Torres had shown initiative, some of his teammates looked drained. Branislav Ivanovic in particular struggled against the combinations Fulham sought to work between Pajtim Kasami and Kieran Richardson down their left. Kasami’s cross picked out Clint Dempsey, and Kasami’s low free kick, from 25 yards, also drew a sound stop from Petr Cech.
Fulham had caused Chelsea concerns, but they also suffered early setback. Brede Hangeland, coming off worse from a clash of heads with Richardson, left the field after barely quarter of an hour, replaced by Dan Burn. “We missed our leader without Hangeland,” reckoned Felix Magath, the Fulham manager.
Burn would soon be undone by the sharp-witted Hazard and the fleet-footed Schurrle. Hazard’s breakthrough pass to anticipate Schurrle’s run from the right, was inspired. Schurrle, appreciative of his colleague’s intuition, finished cleanly.
Chelsea’s second was created by the same pair. The game safe, the German set his sights on a third. It came four minutes later, Torres winning an aerial duel with Burn, Schurrle picking up the dividend.
Fulham pulled a goal back, Johnny Heitinga prodding in after a corner had stubbornly stuck in Cech’s danger zone.

Star man: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Fulham: Stekelenburg 6, Riether 6, Hangeland (Burn 16min 6), Heitinga 5, Richardson 6, Dejagah 6, Parker 7 (Karagounis 79min), Sidwell 6, Kasami 7 (Holtby 62min), Bent 6, Dempsey 6

Chelsea: Cech 7, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Azpilicueta 7, Ramires 7, Matic 7, Schurrle 8 (David Luiz 87min), Oscar 7 (Mikel 78min), Hazard 8, Torres 7 (Ba 82min)

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Mail:

Fulham 1-3 Chelsea: Jose's silent treatment does the trick for hat-trick hero Schurrle
By Rob Draper

To the long list of Jose Mourinho’s mind games, we now have to add the silent treatment.
It seems that his Chelsea team were spooked into a performance by a half-time walk-out by their manager.
Rather than address their shortcomings in what was a lamentable first half from Chelsea’s point of view, Mourinho simply walked out of the dressing room, allowing his players to stew in their own failings.
‘Normally I give the players two or three minutes to arrive, to change boots or shirts and after that they know that I start talking,’ said Mourinho.
‘And they were there, ready for me. But I was not ready for them. I decided not to speak — because if I start speaking about the first half I would need more than 10 minutes.
‘I think they showed they are very intelligent — without words, you understand what is in the mind of a person, especially if you know the person. I think they understood the first half was really poor and they transformed it into a fantastic second half.’
Chelsea looked lame, tepid and uninspired for 45 minutes. The designated creative midfield players all were utterly ineffective, none more so than Andre Schurrle. In fact, Felix Magath’s managerial debut at Craven Cottage had started surprisingly well. And then came Mourinho’s intervention.
Eden Hazard was transformed from indifference to excellence and he, in turn, brought out the best in Schurrle. And in transforming the game with a 16-minute hat-trick, the German sent a clear message on an afternoon that Arsenal lost and Manchester City did not play. Even when Chelsea appear to be faltering, they will find a way to get back into their stride and of such recoveries are title winners made.
For Fulham, it looks bleak. Cardiff next week will be a vital game but by the time the next reasonable run of fixtures comes, in April, it will surely be too late to survive. Magath, of course, remains optimistic.
‘For sure there is hope,’ he said. ‘You cannot expect we win against the leading team, so today nothing happened. We have to go to Cardiff and it would be better if we win the first game.’
He could point to significant first-half chances for Clint Dempsey, Dan Burn and Steve Sidwell that might have opened the scoring. Burn was three yards out when he failed to get a touch; Sidwell eight yards out when he blazed over.
But for Magath the transformation was more a result of Fulham’s failures than Chelsea’s inspiration. He was right that losing Brede Hangeland after a clash of heads with his team-mate Kieran Richardson on 15 minutes was a cruel blow.
‘After half-time we forgot to defend,’ said Magath. ‘I have seldom seen such a goal as the first one. Schurrle runs over the whole field and nobody tackles him. I cannot imagine we would have made such mistakes with Brede. He is the head of the team.’
And Magath was also right that no one could have anticipated the 16-minute maelstrom that transformed the game. Hazard was the instigator of the revival — perhaps he feared the silent treatment from Mourinho more than most, as in the first half was he was abject.
But from a knock-back from Schurrle on 52 minutes, the Belgian delivered an exquisite pass, allowing Schurrle a clear run on goal. Sprinting away from Burn over 20 yards, Schurrle did not disappoint.
Hazard seemed unburdened, for there was now an absurd playfulness to his creativity. A cross for Fernando Torres, executed by crossing one leg behind the other and striking the ball with the backward leg, was an utter delight.
He was now dominating areas in which he could barely get a kick in the first half. On 65 minutes, given too much space outside the box, he dinked through another clever pass for Schurrle, and, from close range this time, the German finished again.
Three minutes later the hat-trick was complete. A long ball was won in the air by Torres, who played in Schurrle, who sprinted away from Johnny Heitinga and finished decisively.
‘I expect this from him,’ said Mourinho of Schurrle. ‘Cold blood. He is in front of the goal and he’s the kind of guy who finishes. He can chip, he can score with the right foot and the left foot and this is what I expect from him.’
Fulham would respond. A corner found Darren Bent at the far post and he prodded the ball across goal for Heitinga to turn in on 74 minutes. But their early optimism had long since been deflated by then. By now Chelsea were well into their stride and about to go four points clear at the top of the table.

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Mirror

Fulham 1-3 Chelsea: Schurrle bags a hat-trick to extend the Blues' lead at the top of the table
Dave Kidd

It's not often a player scores a ­hat-trick inside 16 minutes and everybody leaves the stadium drooling over one of his team-mates.
But Eden Hazard is a footballer who thinks six impossible thoughts before breakfast – and then sets about executing them in a Premier League match.
The Belgian’s technique has always been gorgeous yet now his workrate is impressive and his confidence appears limitless.
Jose Mourinho may have given his team the silent treatment at half-time – he was so disgusted with their first 45 minutes, he refused to speak to them.
But Hazard’s second-half display was further proof of how he has raised his game under the Special One.
Andre Schurrle doubled his Chelsea goals tally to blow away fragile Fulham with a ­hat-trick in little more than a quarter of an hour.
Yet with two of the assists, and the outstanding moment of the match, Hazard was the real star of the show.
Between the German’s first and second goals, Hazard surged down the left, shaped to cross with his left foot, wrapped his right foot around the back of it and sent a pinpoint centre to Fernando Torres at the back stick, which the Spaniard somehow failed to convert.
This particular party trick is known as a ‘rabona’. It is usually employed by ­showboaters but Hazard’s intent was deadly serious and his execution perfect.
Everyone inside Craven Cottage wished they had a ‘live pause’ facility so they could rewind the action and ensure their eyes had not deceived them.
Chelsea are now four points clear at the top of the table and, should they finish the job, as Mourinho’s teams tend to do, they will not be the most thrilling of Premier League champions.
But in Hazard they have one fantasy ­footballer, capable of dropping jaws and smacking gobs.
Deadly duo: Hazard made the bullets for Schurrle at the Cottage

Schurrle’s performance was schizophrenic. In the first half he delivered the worst ­free-kick seen in the Premier League this season and one of its worst corners too. In the second half, his finishing was simply lethal as he handed his fellow German Felix Magath a beating on his first home match as Fulham boss.
Fulham have been shambling towards the Championship all season and, even though Magath has cajoled decent first halves out of his side in his first two matches, they won neither and do not look a side capable of taking the necessary five or six wins from their final 10 games. Yet for 45 minutes, Magath’s men had snapped at heels, tackled with force, harried and hustled the league leaders, who looked sluggish after their midweek trip to Istanbul.
Mourinho was right to be furious with his charges, even though Torres might have scored twice before the break, once capitalising on a dreadful attempted ­clearance form Maarten Stekelenburg and then forcing a fine save out of the Dutchman.
Clint Dempsey, on his final appearance of an unsuccessful loan spell, headed wide early on and Steve Sidwell drilled another off target. But the key moment of Fulham’s first half came when Brede ­Hangeland had to be withdrawn after suffering concussion in a clash of heads with team-mate Kieran ­Richardson.
It was to prove decisive when Schurrle started a move deep inside his own half. The ball found Hazard, who played a searching through-ball for the blond German to outpace substitute Dan Burn and score.
“I have never seen a player run 90 metres to score without anyone trying to tackle him before in my career,” fumed Magath. He has had quite some career and it truly was that bad a goal from a defensive perspective.
Then came Hazard’s wonder cross, before the Belgian beat John Heitinga and slipped Schurrle through with a well-weighted pass for the German to fire inside the far post.
Torres provided the third with some fine hold-up play and Schurrle was clinical again.
“This is what I expect from Schurrle – cold blood in front of goal,” said Mourinho.
Heitinga stabbed home a ­consolation goal but Fulham were well beaten – and look to be heading for the ­Championship.

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Express:

Fulham 1 - Chelsea 3: Andre Schurrle treble sinks Cottagers
Jim Holden

FULHAM have put their faith in the tough Teuton taskmaster Felix Magath to save their season, but he was left powerless by a display of ruthless German efficiency and cute Portuguese psychology.
Efficiency came from Chelsea striker Andre Schurrle who struck a superb hat-trick inside 17 minutes in the second half to keep Chelsea firmly on top of the Premier League table and Fulham stuck perilously at the bottom.
The psychology, of course, was the department of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who revealed he gave his team the silent treatment after a hopeless first half to motivate them.
Yet the match was won by Schurrle. Each of his goals was converted with composure and precision, running onto clever passes from Chelsea team-mates and finding the net with low shots. Out on the touchline Magath could only watch with envy at the quality of his compatriot.
The Fulham side on his first match at Craven Cottage were well organised and thoroughly determined – but in the end there is no substitute for sheer class.
Chelsea had that with Schurrle – and with their orchestrator in chief Eden Hazard, whose probing, prompting and deft footwork was a delight.
Indeed, the moment of the match wasn’t one of the goals but a sensational cross-legged centre with his wrong foot from Hazard that was simply sublime and would have created another goal but for last-ditch defending. The trick, apparently, is called a ‘rabona’. You will never tire of watching it on TV replays.
Chelsea’s victory puts them four points clear at the top of the table after defeat yesterday for Arsenal, although Manchester City, six points adrift, have two matches in hand.
That left Mourinho delighted, but he remains cautious about the battle with City, the strongest title rivals.
The Chelsea manager preferred to talk about his half-time tactic, saying: “I was silent in the dressing room. I walked in and then I walked out. I didn’t say one word.
“I have never done this before in my career, but I haven’t had as many first halves like that in my career.
“It was very disappointing, the worst of our season. I would have changed 11 players if I could.
“But the second half was one of the best. My players are very intelligent and they understood what was needed. I didn’t say anything to them after the game either. What could I say then?”
The first half was mostly bland but for one curious incident when Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg dallied on a clearance and kicked the ball straight at Fernando Torres.
Chelsea’s £50million striker collected the loose ball but contrived to shoot hopelessly wide of goal.
Torres had the only worthwhile effort of the half, his angled shot tipped away by Stekelenburg in stoppage time after Fulham captain Brede Hangeland was hurt in an aerial clash with team-mate Kieran Richardson.
Fulham look improved under their new manager Magath, but fashioned little before the break save for a low free-kick from Pajtim Kasami.
Hazard was the spark as Chelsea took complete command after the break and he drifted into spaces and danced past opponents. It was his pass that set Schurrle running clear in the 52nd minute and free to score.
It was a goal of thrilling dynamism.
Schurrle’s second came in the 65th minute, and once again was created by the wizardry of Hazard, who conjured another delicate but destructive pass into the Fulham penalty area which left the German clear to shoot home left-footed.
Four minutes later Torres had time to collect the ball and play a forward pass that sent Schurrle on the run again to complete his hat-trick.
Fulham did grab one goal back, for whatever consolation that held. A corner flew across the area, Darren Bent pulled the ball back and Johnny Heitinga stabbed home. It provoked no alarm among the celebrating Chelsea fans in this one-sided local derby. Their team was never going to lose.
Magath was phlegmatic afterwards, saying: “There is hope for us with the way we played in the first half today, but we have to do that for 90 minutes. Once the first goal was scored it was difficult for the team.”

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Star:

Fulham 1 - Chelsea 3: Hat-trick hero Andre Schurrle extends the Blues Premier League lead
A GERMAN ruled at Craven Cottage – but unfortunately for Fulham it was not new boss Felix Magath.

By Paul Hetherington

His fellow-countryman Andre Schurrle scored a stunning hat-trick in 17 second-half minutes for league-leaders Chelsea to wreck Magath’s first home match in charge.
Schurrle’s first strike arrived in the 52nd minute after he had bee sent clear by Eden Hazard.
That comfortable finish was soon followed by another easy conversion in the 65th minute, from the former Bayer Leverkusen hitman, this time from close range with an inspired Hazard again providing the assist.
And four minutes later, Schurrle rifled home right-footed after Fernando Torres had first won the ball in the air before supplying the pass to his rampant team-mate.
Those goals gave Chelsea their 100th London derby victory since the introduction of the Premier League.
But for bottom-of-the-table Fulham, it is now eight league games without a win.
Yet Fulham were actually close to giving Magath a flying start to his managerial life at the Cottage.
After just three minutes Pajtim Kasami crossed from the left after a strong run but Clint Dempsey couldn’t control his header.
The American’s effort flew across the face of the goal and wide to Chelsea’s relief.
Fulham could then have fallen behind in the West London derby in the 14th minute, when Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg – for the second time in the opening stages – made a hash of an attempted clearance.
Torres charged down the ball, only to shoot across the goal.
Fulham were immediately forced into an early change when a groggy Brede Hangeland left the field to be replaced by Dan Burn. The Fulham skipper had earlier been hurt in a nasty clash of heads with team-mate Kieran Richardson.
And it was Burn who had Fulham’s next chance but he failed to connect properly with a free-kick delivered from the left by Ashkan Dejagah.
Despite powerful performances from Blues centre-backs John Terry and Gary Cahill, Chelsea still managed to look uncertain at the back at times.
Petr Cech had to save smartly from a Kasami drive, after a well-worked free-kick.
Fulham, Chelsea, Andre SchurrleJOY AND DISPAIR: Chelsea celebrate Schurrle's second as Fulham contemplate another defeat [AP]
Then Steve Sidwell shot high and wide when the hosts carved out another opportunity.
But Spaniard Torres almost put his team ahead in first-half added time but his well-hit effort was turned over by Stekelenburg.
And the £50million striker should really have increased Chelsea’s lead seven minutes after Schurrle’s first goal.
Hazard produced an outrageous reverse cross from the left but Torres failed to hit the target with his downward header as Burn intervened.
Chelsea, though, took a proper grip on proceedings before Johnny Heitinga forced home a corner in the 74th minute for Fulham’s consolation goal.