Luis Boa Morte stunned Jose Mourinho and sent Chelsea
spinning to their only third defeat of the season.
Boa Morte's first-half goal took the points from the champions on a
day when Mourinho tried to quash speculation surrounding his
future.
The Blues finished with 10-men when William Gallas was sent off for
a nasty tackle on Heidar Helguson.
And they were caught up in controversy when Didier Drogba handled
the ball in an attempt to claim an equaliser.
The Chelsea striker celebrated the goal as if nothing had happened
but an eagle-eyed linesman spotted the ``Hand of Drog'' and referee
Mike Dean wiped it out.
Fulham fans invaded the pitch and celebrated as if they had won the
title.
But they have probably secured their top-flight survival with their
first Premiership win over their neighbours.
If Mourinho was annoyed by the speculation, his mood could not have
improved as he watched his team's sloppy opening against Chris
Coleman's spirited Fulham.
Coleman's team could have been awarded a penalty before taking the
lead through Boa Morte in the 17th minute.
Mourinho, fuming on the touchline, hauled off Joe Cole and Shaun
Wright-Phillips midway through the first half. Then he replaced
Robert Huth with Ricardo Carvalho at half-time.
Fulham deserve great credit for approaching the game positively and
Zat Knight was immense at the back.
Fulham thought they had a penalty in the sixth minute. Moritz Volz,
terrorised by Thierry Henry on his last game at Craven Cottage,
raided forward down the Fulham right.
Steed Malbranque slipped a pass to his over-lapping full-back and
Volz beat John Terry in a race to the ball.
Volz toe-poked the ball past Terry's lunging tackle, hurdled the
Blues skipper and threw himself to the turf just inside the Chelsea
penalty box.
It was a tough call for referee Dean. Terry certainly did not take
the ball but there was no contact because Volz had evaded the
challenge by throwing himself in the air.
Boa Morte launched another attack down the left and cut a pass
inside to Malbranque.
His shot from 20-yards was blocked by Terry but it spun dangerously
towards Petr Cech's goal.
Paulo Ferreira tried the lash the ball to safety but his clearance
only smacked into Boa Morte and flew into the net.
Mourinho reacted swiftly to his team's disappointing start, sending
on Damien Duff and Drogba for Cole and Wright-Phillips in the 26th
minute.
But his champions looked rattled. Huth was booked when he wiped-out
Boa Morte out with a clumsy mistimed challenge.
Controversy erupted again in the 58th minute when Dean ruled out a
Drogba goal for handball.
The referee appeared to give the goal at first as Drogba seized on
confusion between goalkeeper Mark Crossley and Knight to take the
ball round the pair and roll it into an empty net.
The Chelsea team celebrated and returned to their own half for the
restart - but Boa Morte led the Fulham team in protest. They
persuaded Dean to speak to his linesman and, after an in-depth
discussion, the ref awarded Fulham a free-kick for handball.
Television replays suggested his final decision was spot-on. Drogba
clearly used his right hand to tip the ball past the Fulham keeper
before tapping it into the net and claiming a goal.
