Xabi Alonso confident in Chelsea attacking trio after victory at Fulham

[p]"[b]They are going to be a very important part to build around them, ‌to build the team with them,[/b]" the Spaniard told reporters.[/p][p]"[b]They need to ‌take responsibility. They need to lead the rest. They need to inspire the rest ‌because if they do great, the other ones will follow[/b]."[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joao-pedro/CAmJERl2/"]Joao Pedro[/a] put [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]‌Chelsea[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/chelsea-4fGZN2oK/fulham-69ZiU2Om/?mid=C2Nfvg77"]ahead after 31 seconds[/a] when he latched onto a pass from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palmer-cole/h8agbDt7/"]Palmer[/a], who was back in the kind of dazzling form that stunned the Premier League after his move ‌from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]Manchester City[/a] in 2023.[/p][p]The Brazilian repaid the favour ⁠early in the second half when ‌he set up Palmer to make it 3-1 to the visitors with an angled ​shot that flew between the legs of goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leno-bernd/jwRV63z0/"]Bernd Leno[/a].[/p][p]That was after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Rogers[/a] - the club’s record signing over the close season from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston ​Villa[/a] - had marked his debut for the Blues by restoring their lead in the 41st minute.[/p][image alt="Match stats: Fulham vs Chelsea" id="469dbf6e-75a0-4aaf-9f3f-b757bce5e220" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="2b0e8956-24b8-4103-baaf-6f5337396c78" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Goals from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham[/a]’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/king-joshua/tnnZhru5/"]Josh King[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-gonzalo/pWxyEyDA/"]Gonzalo Garcia[/a] kept the hosts ⁠in the game until the ​end but Chelsea’s 18 shots - six on target - helped send the visiting fans home confident of a big improvement on last season’s dismal 10th-place finish.[/p][p]The Chelsea supporters happily dusted off their Cole Palmer song - something that was not heard much ‌during that last campaign as he struggled with injury.[/p][p]"[b]I'm very happy for Cole because I have really enjoyed seeing him playing with this dynamism, with this freedom, with this responsibility, helping the team, feeling important, and we need that for the team,[/b]” [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-xabi/hAcTWKKN/"]Alonso[/a] said.[/p][p]"[b]If Cole feels this way, we'll have a better team, a better Chelsea.[/b]"[/p][p]Fulham boss [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arbeloa-alvaro/CO9bjrLo/"]Alvaro Arbeloa[/a] - a former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] and Spain teammate of Alonso who was also making his Premier League debut as a coach - said his side had made the challenge of facing Chelsea all the more difficult ‌by conceding so early.[/p][p]But he praised his players for sticking to his plan ​for an energetic, high-pressure approach which could have been rewarded with another ‌equaliser to make it 3-3 had [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/robinson-antonee/ppHdaUtm/"]Antonee Robinson[/a] kept his lob over keeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sanchez-robert/Q74F6aqr/"]Robert Sanchez[/a] on target.[/p][p]"[b]My players they did what they had to do,[/b]" Arbeloa said. "[b]I can’t be happy because we lost this game. We wanted to win for our fans. But I think this is the ⁠way that we have to play ... ⁠We're going to play in ‌this way ... no matter who is in front of us.[/b]"[/p]