Andre Schürrle scores a wonderful second half hat-trick to ensure Chelsea stay top of the league with a 3-1 win over Fulham. As a result of the loss Fulham are down and out at the foot of the table.
The game started real slow with neither team able to take an early advantage. Both sides looked nervy and were not able to get a string of passes together. Frustration was evident on the face of Jose Mourinho as his team lacked the quality and ambition in the first half.
The first chance of the game came to Clint Dempsey, who just played his last game for Fulham as his loan spell from Seattle came to an end. He missed a header which should have landed up in the back of the net.
Fernando Torres, who scored in the Champions League game came close to scoring after he cheekily forced Marteen Stekelenburg into making an error after which he selfishly went for goal and missed.
Unfortunately Brede Hangeland was subbed early in the first half after he collided with a teammate and ended up with what seemed to be a concussion.
Andre Schürrle was the man of the match. He put the game to bed with a staggering hat-trick with two assists coming via the magical Belgian Eden Hazard and one from Torres.
All the goals came in the second half. The first came when Schürrle was put through by Hazard, the German then cleverly took the ball down on the wrong side of Burn as he was aware that he could not be taken down and he slotted home with ultimate ease.
The second goal came of a Blue counter attack lead by Hazard who slowed the pace down a little and then he put in a perfectly weighted ball for Schürrle who slipped the ball in past Stekelenburg.
The hat-trick goal came after Torres won a header in midfield and smartly played Schürrle through who completed the finish.
The goals left Fulham deflated and dejected. Johnny Hetinga got the consolation of a Fulham corner after which Fulham came close a couple of times as well, but they were unable to do much.
After the win Chelsea went up to 63 points, while Fulham languish with just 21.