Xabi Alonso's first competitive game in charge of Chelsea ended in a 3-2 win at Fulham, a five-goal game shaped as much by defensive lapses at both ends as by the quality of Chelsea's front three.
Chelsea led inside a minute. João Pedro finished from Cole Palmer's flick after Fulham's Jorge Cuenca was caught out of position, the fastest of five goals in the game. Fulham levelled through Josh King in the 22nd minute, teed up by Timothy Castagne, before Chelsea regained the lead through Morgan Rogers in the 40th, his debut goal, set up by fellow debutant Maxence Lacroix's overlapping run down the right.
Palmer made it 3-1 three minutes into the second half, nutmegging Bernd Leno after João Pedro found him clear of Fulham's offside line. Gonzalo García gave the hosts hope on his own debut in the 53rd minute, heading in the rebound after Robert Sánchez spilled a Castagne shot, but Fulham could not find a leveller.
Alonso, asked about the front three of Palmer, João Pedro and Rogers afterwards, said: "They are going to be a very important part of the team. To build a team with them, they need to take responsibility, and lead the rest, inspire the rest, if they do great, then others will follow." He declined to single out Sánchez for the two goals conceded: "We talk about the team. The first goal we can do better to defend and to avoid. It's part of the game; we have to accept it and learn from it. It's going to be a process, in all lines."