WHO HAS THE LAST LAUGH NOW?
Mount answers the claims of favouritism with late winner
THERE are some among the critics of Frank Lampard who accuse him of favouritism towards Mason Mount. They say that Mount is the teacher’s pet at Stamford Bridge.
They wring their hands when Mount appears in the starting lineup because they say he does not deserve his place.
They are wrong, of course, and last night, for the umpteenth time in his short career, Mount proved they were wrong.
Lampard knew this was a vital game for his stuttering side, a game they had to win to arrest their recent slide. So he packed his starting line-up with the strongest characters in his squad. He packed it with his leaders: with Olivier Giroud, with Antonio Rudiger, with Thiago Silva, with Jorginho. And with Mount.
And when victory seemed to be slipping away at Craven Cottage against a Fulham team reduced to ten men before half-time and the vultures were starting to circle over Lampard, it was Mount who came to the rescue with a nerveless strike late in the second half that lifted his team back to seventh and t he fringes of t he Champions League places.
It was a reminder, if one were needed, of why Lampard values Mount. The midfielder seems to have been damned in the eyes of an impressionable minority by association with the more exotic skills of Jack Grealish when the two compete for a midfield berth with England but he possesses plenty of class of his own and he delivered when his manager needed it most in this west London derby.
‘Huge goal for Chelsea and Frank Lampard scored by Mason Mount,’ Gary Lineker wrote on Twitter. ‘For all their signings and money spent, for me he’s their best player. Great technically, fantastic energy and workrate, really consistent, can play in multiple positions and scores goals.’
The victory will buy Lampard more time to find the right blend from the playing riches he has at his disposal although it was a sign of the problems he still faces in incorporating his summer signings when substitute Timo Werner, who has failed to score in ten league games, wasted a glorious l ate chance to double Chelsea’ s advantage. Werner’s confidence is shot to pieces.
The defeat brought Fulham’s run of five successive draws to an end and meant they have now won only one of their last 39 matches against Chelsea.
It was a setback for Fulham boss Scott Parker after his side’s fine performance against Spurs last Wednesday but there were more promising signs that they will put up a spirited fight against the prospect of relegation. After four losses in their previous six games, Chelsea had started the game in tenth place and looked tentative in the opening stages.
Giroud forced a good save out of Alphonse Areola with a flamboyant shot hit with the outside of his left foot that swerved towards the bottom corner of the Fulham net before the goalkeeper tipped it around the post.
But Fulham had not lost the composure they showed against Spurs and as the half wore on they attacked more confidently. Antonee Robinson made ground down the left and both he and Look man saw shots blocked in quick succession.
I van Cavaleiro, scorer at Spurs, was also thwarted by a late clearance.
Midway through the half Chelsea came close to breaking the deadlock. Robinson could only nod a weak header from a Ben Chilwell cross into the path of Mount on the edge of the Fulham box and Mount took one touch to control it before smashing his shot against the face of the bar. His yell of despair drifted across the River Thames to Putney.
Fulham should have taken the lead four minutes before half-time when Lookman backheeled the ball into the path of Robinson near the halfway line and Robinson advanced on the Chelsea defence.
Robinson played in Kenny Tete on the right and his cut-back found Cavaleiro unmarked eight yards out. Cavaleiro hit it with his right foot but miscued it so badly that it hit his left leg and trickled apologetically into touch.
Tete turned away and held his head in his hands but worse was to come for the home side.
On the stroke of half-time, deep in Chelsea’s half, Robinson flew into a tackle with Cesar Azpilicueta who somersaulted through the air before landing in a heap. A kind interpretation of the challenge was that it was needlessly rash. The interpretation of referee Peter
Bankes was that it deserved a straight red. Quite how much contact there was appeared in doubt but VAR did not overturn the decision. The odds were stacked high against Fulham now. Robinson had been their best attacking outlet and just as his side had started to grow in confidence, they had been emasculated by the dismissal.
Chelsea were lacking creativity still, t hough, and f or al l t he pressure they started to exert through their numerical advantage it was still Fulham who forced the first chance of the second half.
Cavaleiro held the ball up well and fed Ola Aina as he burst forward. Aina cut inside on to his right foot and let fly with a fierce drive from just outside the area that flew over the Chelsea bar. Chelsea were dominating possession totally but their build-up play was predictable and laboured. There were too many square passes and not nearly enough urgency when they were trying to move the ball forwards.
Not before time, Lampard subbed Jorginho with 25 minutes to go and brought on Tammy Abraham, whose first touch was to head a cross from Rudiger straight at Areola. He should have scored. Chelsea nearly gifted Fulham a goal out of nothing. Edouard Mendy was caught off guard by a back pass from Azpilicueta and played the ball straight into the path of Cavaleiro. He turned and tried to chip the ball into the empty goal but it was blocked by Thiago Silva.
An air of desperation began to enter Chelsea’s play. They brought on Werner and with 12 minutes to go they made the breakthrough. Chilwell picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box and instead of shooting, he took the ball wide and crossed it. Areola flapped at it and his parry sent it to Mount, who drilled it straight back past him.
‘ I thought Mason Mount was outstanding today,’ said Lampard. ‘He always has been. Last season and this season. He only turned 22 last week and he wants to be a top player for this club. He cares. He has maturity beyond his years.’
Lampard was right. In the search for balance and fluency that an influx of new players often brings, in the heat of the spotlight that the Premier League throws on clubs like Chelsea, Mount is leading from the front.