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Chelsea made it two Premier League wins on the bounce after recording a 2-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday afternoon. Fresh from last Friday's 5-1 win over West Ham, Blues boss Enzo Maresca kept faith with the same team for the visit of their west London neighbours.
That meant Joao Pedro once again started as a No.10 in Cole Palmer's absence as Liam Delap led the line. The ex-Ipswich Town striker would only be on the pitch for 14 minutes as he had to be substituted off with a hamstring injury.
Chelsea were to get away with one on 21 minutes as Josh King was denied a first Fulham goal after a VAR check for a foul in the build-up to the 18-year-old netting in style beyond Robert Sanchez. Chelsea were far from their best in the first half but they did manage to open the scoring through Pedro on the cusp of half-time following a powerful header from Enzo Fernandez's corner.
Fernandez was to get his name on the scoresheet not long after the break with a penalty after Ryan Sessegnon was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area. That proved to be the final goal of the contest as Chelsea claimed the west London derby bragging rights with a 2-0 win.
Here are five things we spotted in the match at Stamford Bridge:
Garnacho watches on
Alejandro Garnacho was in attendance for Chelsea's west London derby against Fulham. The winger is still a Manchester United player at present as he waits for his transfer to Chelsea to be finalised.
A fixed fee of £40million has been agreed between the clubs and the Argentine will pen a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge. United have also included a 10 per cent sell-on clause in the deal.
Ahead of kick-off, the TV cameras picked up on Garnacho in a director's box, with the youngster giving a thumbs up to fans who had spotted him.
James decision
Recce James once again had to contend with a place on the Chelsea bench as Malo Gusto got the nod against Fulham. The Chelsea captain will be hoping that is not a sign of things to come as he looks to seal a place in England's World Cup squad next summer.
James is in Thomas Tuchel's plans for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia, with Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold omitted from the 24-man party. During his time with the media on Friday, the ex-Chelsea boss revealed that James is, at this moment, "slightly ahead" of Alexander-Arnold in the race to be his right-back.
Things can quickly change in football, however, and James needs to ensure that he wins his place back in the Chelsea XI to ensure it stays that way in his battle with the former Liverpool man when it comes to England duty. The right-back was introduced for the final nine minutes of the contest as he took the place of Pedro Neto.
George's position
The early injury to Delap resulted in Tyrique George entering the fray in place of his teammate. It was to be the 19-year-old's first appearance of the season after failing to come off the bench against Crystal Palace and not taking his place in the squad at West Ham last Friday.
George's Chelsea future is very much up in the air at present amid the possibility of a switch to Roma prior to Monday's transfer deadline. Rather than opt for new signing Jamie Gittens off the bench, Maresca instead selected the Cobham academy graduate and he immediately went up front rather than moving Pedro into the position.
George has played up front for Chelsea a couple of times in the past but he is a winger by trade, thus resulting in a number of fans questioning Maresca's tactical decision. Not much fell the player's way in terms of chances on goal until he saw a near-post effort saved by Bernd Leno seconds before Pedro opened the scoring from the resulting corner.
Penalty pecking order
The Chelsea penalty pecking order would appear to be clear now after the Blues' victory against Fulham. Chelsea were awarded a penalty early in the second half after Sessegnon was deemed to have handled Trevoh Chalobah's cross.
Without Palmer through injury, many fans probably expected Pedro to take on the responsibility considering his excellent record from the spot during his time in England after scoring 18 from a possible 19 penalties. That wasn't to be the case, though, as it was Fernandez, who was captaining the team with James on the bench, who took charge and subsequently netted from 12 yards.
Chelsea do have some excellent penalty takers at the club and Pedro may have to bide his time for spot-kick duty for the west London club as he appears to be behind Palmer and Fernandez in the pecking order.
Caicedo and Sanchez moment
Sanchez didn't have too much to do in the Chelsea goal with Fulham barely forcing him into action. He was almost needed towards the end of the first half but Moises Caicedo came to the rescue with an excellent sliding challenge in the box.
It looked for all the world that Timothy Castagne would test the shot-stopper after some excellent work from Sasa Lukic and King to create the opening, only for Caicedo to come from nowhere and ensure the Belgian international was to be denied. It was outstanding work from the midfielder and it came as no surprise to see Sanchez race out of his goal and grab his teammate by the face to thank him for his piece of play.
Caicedo brings so much to this Chelsea team and that was clear for all to see in that one piece of play.
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