<p>Chelsea beat their west London neighbours Fulham 1-0 on Saturday as a penalty by top scorer Cole Palmer earned the Blues their third Premier League win in a row, even if coach Mauricio Pochettino's men laboured in front of goal once again.</p><p>Palmer sent Bernd Leno the wrong way with his spot kick in the dying moments of the first half after Raheem Sterling was brought down by Issa Diop's trailing foot.</p><p>It was Palmer's ninth league goal - two more than the Blues' top scorer over the entirety of last season - since joining from Manchester City as a last-minute summer signing and quickly establishing himself as Chelsea's most dangerous player.</p>.Chelsea's poor disciplinary record caused by lack of experience: Pochettino.<p>He was criticised for missing several chances in Chelsea's 1-0 League Cup semi-final first leg defeat against Middlesbrough in midweek.</p><p>"After the game I was disappointed like anyone would be missing that many chances," Palmer told broadcaster <em>TNT Sports</em>. "You have those games and I've put it behind me and scored."</p><p>Fulham's best chance for an equaliser fell to Raul Jimenez whose shot forced Djordje Petrovic into a one-handed save in the 73rd minute. Petrovic had also denied Harry Wilson in the first half as the visitors tried to catch their hosts on the break.</p><p>Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher smacked the post with a shot from the outside of his boot in the 83rd minute but the final statistics showed the Blues had only three shots on target all game, a reminder of their woes in front of goal.</p><p>Armando Broja, only recently back in the side after an injury in the previous campaign, powered a header from an Enzo Fernandez cross just wide of the post in the 21st minute but was largely snuffed out by Fulham's defence.</p><p>With Nicolas Jackson on duty for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations and Christopher Nkunku injured again, Pochettino will need to find a way back to scoring in time for Middlesbrough's visit for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final on January 23.</p><p>One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon went up when Ben Chilwell came off Chelsea's bench, marking the England defender's return from injury and potentially solving the Blue's left-back problem which centre half Levi Colwill has struggled to fix.</p><p>The win pushed Chelsea up two places in the league table to eighth, above Manchester United and Newcastle United who both have a game in hand.</p><p>Fulham, who have now lost five away games in the league in a row, remained 13th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.</p><p>Coach Marco Silva said Chelsea defender Malo Gusto should have been sent off for a foul on Willian in the first half.</p><p>"We have to talk about the red card for Gusto, it was clear. It is hard to see how things aren’t consistent at the level that we’re at," he told <em>TNT</em>. </p>
<p>Chelsea beat their west London neighbours Fulham 1-0 on Saturday as a penalty by top scorer Cole Palmer earned the Blues their third Premier League win in a row, even if coach Mauricio Pochettino's men laboured in front of goal once again.</p><p>Palmer sent Bernd Leno the wrong way with his spot kick in the dying moments of the first half after Raheem Sterling was brought down by Issa Diop's trailing foot.</p><p>It was Palmer's ninth league goal - two more than the Blues' top scorer over the entirety of last season - since joining from Manchester City as a last-minute summer signing and quickly establishing himself as Chelsea's most dangerous player.</p>.Chelsea's poor disciplinary record caused by lack of experience: Pochettino.<p>He was criticised for missing several chances in Chelsea's 1-0 League Cup semi-final first leg defeat against Middlesbrough in midweek.</p><p>"After the game I was disappointed like anyone would be missing that many chances," Palmer told broadcaster <em>TNT Sports</em>. "You have those games and I've put it behind me and scored."</p><p>Fulham's best chance for an equaliser fell to Raul Jimenez whose shot forced Djordje Petrovic into a one-handed save in the 73rd minute. Petrovic had also denied Harry Wilson in the first half as the visitors tried to catch their hosts on the break.</p><p>Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher smacked the post with a shot from the outside of his boot in the 83rd minute but the final statistics showed the Blues had only three shots on target all game, a reminder of their woes in front of goal.</p><p>Armando Broja, only recently back in the side after an injury in the previous campaign, powered a header from an Enzo Fernandez cross just wide of the post in the 21st minute but was largely snuffed out by Fulham's defence.</p><p>With Nicolas Jackson on duty for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations and Christopher Nkunku injured again, Pochettino will need to find a way back to scoring in time for Middlesbrough's visit for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final on January 23.</p><p>One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon went up when Ben Chilwell came off Chelsea's bench, marking the England defender's return from injury and potentially solving the Blue's left-back problem which centre half Levi Colwill has struggled to fix.</p><p>The win pushed Chelsea up two places in the league table to eighth, above Manchester United and Newcastle United who both have a game in hand.</p><p>Fulham, who have now lost five away games in the league in a row, remained 13th, eight points clear of the relegation zone.</p><p>Coach Marco Silva said Chelsea defender Malo Gusto should have been sent off for a foul on Willian in the first half.</p><p>"We have to talk about the red card for Gusto, it was clear. It is hard to see how things aren’t consistent at the level that we’re at," he told <em>TNT</em>. </p>