New Delhi: Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 with the help of goals from Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez on either side of the two halves to bag their second win in a row in the ongoing Premier League 2025-26 season. The match was marred with controversy as Chelsea appeared to have benefited from some poor refereeing decisions.
Fulham, who were arguably the better of the two sides for the first 45 minutes, took the lead in the 21st minute when midfielder Josh King scored a brilliant goal to put his side ahead. However, King’s goal was ruled out after on-field referee Robert Jones called for a VAR check for the goal. VAR referee Michael Salisbury deemed that Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz had stepped on defender Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up to the goal.
Jones upheld VAR’s decision after reviewing the incident in the pitchside monitor, ruling out King’s goal. The decision sparked massive controversy as there appeared to be minimal contact between striker Muniz on Chelsea defender Chalobah, with several former footballers, including Paul Scholes, claiming that it was not a foul.
However, Fulham had to pay the price for the refereeing decision as they were denied the chance to go ahead after a terrific opening spell in the game. Fulham were punished further when Chelsea striker Pedro scored a header from a corner in the extra time in the first half to put the hosts 1-0 up at Stamford Bridge.