Another tough game, this time at home to Fulham - who'd have thought at the start of the season that Birmingham and Fulham would be tough Xmas games !!. The Drog gets to stay an extra day before going off to the African Nations so he starts alongside Kalou. Joe Cole is at the top of the diamond; Zirkov, Rickey and Ferreira come in for Ash, Alex and Bran. Kakuta is on the bench.
Within 4mins the old defensive frailties are exploited as a loose ball in the box falls to Gera who swivels and then slots home past Cech. A disastrous start for the Blues and now Fulham can sit back, crowd the centre and protect a lead. Joe Cole breaks sharply through the middle on 10mins and feeds the Drog but he shoots tamely at Schwarzer. All the pressure is coming from the Blues but Fulham are really well organised and they're closing down brilliantly. The Blues look a nervous outfit and Ballack is having "a mare" again. On the break, Fulham still look dangerous and on 33mins, Dempsey forces Cech into a good save. John Pantsil's got the measure of the Drog who's moaning and going down even more that usual. The boo's are ringing out at the Bridge and rightly so as a thoroughly disappointing the half ends 0-1. Carlo's got a lot to do and Jose, who's in the crowd today on a scouting mission, will be quietly confident.
No changes at half time and this is a big 45mins coming up as defeat today will open the door to Man U and the chasing pack. Rickey almost gifts Fulham a 2nd as he opts to chest back to Cech and lets in Zamora but luckily Cech is quick enough and stays big. The Blues are pressing and Fulham are trowing bodies into tackles and blocks. Kalou finally gets to the dead-ball line and pulls a back a cross but the shot is blocked. On 58mins Drogba hits one on the turn but its palmed away by Schwarzer for a comfortable save. Wave after wave of Chelsea attack is getting snuffed out by desperate though effective Fulham defending. Bran comes on for Ferreira in a straight swap - strange call - but after 10 more mins Carlo goes for a more attacking move by bringing on Sturridge for the Jedi with 20mins remaining. Finally a decent cross from Bran, after so many this half that couldn't even beat the 1st man, reaches the far post and the Drog heads home the equalizer. Within 2mins its 2-1 as Kalou crosses to Sturridge whose shot from a narrow angle is parried by Schwarzer but the ball bobbles in off Smalling. Straight up the other end and Fulham nearly equalize as Cech flaps at a Duff corner but the header goes just over - we just cannot defend balls into the box and Cech doesn't know whether to come or stick. Zirkov is replaced by Ash with 7mins to go as Kalou feeds Drogba but he drags his shot wide. As 4mins of added time goes up, the Drog feeds Kalou whose shot canons of the crossbar. Fulham will play worse than this and win away games but on a very nervy day the Blues scrape 3 desparate points
Come on u Blues !!!
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