Chelsea 2-0 Fulham: Analysis, Quotes and Stats

Chelsea put an end to their recent losing streak with a 2-0 win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, with the side looking particularly dominant in the second half and Oscar and John Obi Mikel finding the back of the net for the Blues.

Chelsea began the match with summer signing Samuel Eto'o in from the start, but the striker proved ineffectual in the first 45 minutes.

While Mourinho's men were able to create more chances, it was the Cottagers who looked the more likely to score, particularly when Darren Bent missed a gilt-edged one-on-one chance when through on goal.

But the second half was all abut Chelsea and after Jose Mourinho curiously left Juan Mata out of the starting line-up Oscar came to the rescue with some much needed attacking force. The Brazilian scored after failed attempts by Andre Schurrle and Eto'o.

After the Blues went 1-0 up in the 52nd minute, Mourinho replaced Eto'o with Fernando Torres in a bid to control possession.

Ramires looked to have an appeal for a penalty later on after Fernando Amorebieta clipped his ankle in the box but the referee turned it down. While Fulham brought on Adel Taraabt the side looked to have lost their attacking flair with Chelsea very much taking control of the game.

John Obi Mikel added to the scoreline in the 84th minute, effectively making the game safe.

The win will bring an end to the questions that have been hanging over Mourinho's head in the past week after the Blues lost to Everton in the league and then Basel in the Champions League. But after the manager claimed he would be pushing Chelsea into a more attacking style of play they seemed quite subdued particularly in the first half.

Stats

In the first half, Chelsea completed 242 passes and Eto'o contributed 2 of those.

Darren Bent had scored in his last three appearances against Chelsea before their match with Fulham.

John Obi Mikel scored his first goal for Chelsea in 185 Premier League games with his strike against Fulham.

As the game continued Chelsea's dominance in possession also increased, with the west London giants finishing up with 64% to Fulham's 36%.

Chelsea also had the vast majority of shots on goal with 24 attempts and nine on target to Fulham's four with just one heading for the net.

Quotes

John Obi Mikel (to Sky Sports): "It was good but I think today's game was all about winning. We've lost two games in a row and the most important thing was to to win. My goal is just a bonus. I am pretty happy, it has been a long time. The guys have been saying you score for the national team and not for Chelsea."

Jose Mourinho: "The result was better than the result against Everton, but I think we played much better against Everton than we did today.

"After a bad start that everybody kept telling me is the worst start for about a decade, today I go to bed and look at the table nobody is in front of us.

"I'm in football for a long time and when results are not good I'm not expecting people to speak well about our team.

"I'm building a different team, the most difficult thing is first to change the philosophy. That takes a little bit of time. We are not playing especially well, the results are not especially good, but the beauty of the Premier League is that everybody loses points so no dramas."

On not playing Juan Mata: "I want to play Mata and Oscar, but Juan has to work and adapt to a certain style of play because I'm not ready to change Oscar's position. Juan has to learn to play the way I want to play, be more consistent."