England midfielder Mason Mount scored the only goal of the game in the 78th minute to end Chelsea’s three-match winless league run, stretching back to before Christmas.
Manager Frank Lampard paid tribute to his team’s “spirit and desire” for overcoming a resolute 10-man Fulham side to earn a much-needed Premier League win on Saturday.
Fulham wing-back Antonee Robinson was dismissed for a flying tackle on Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta just before half-time to give the Blues a second-half numerical advantage.
“I think it was (a critical goal), I think, considering Fulham’s recent form and our recent form going into the game.” Lampard said.
“For us, we know we wanted a win and we needed a win. The players approached it really well, we started the first half, we controlled the game. A little bit sloppy at the end of the first half but with 10 men the challenge was ‘can we take advantage of this?’.
“Can we stay in their half? Can we force them open? Can we move the ball quickly? And it wasn’t easy, they know what they’ve got to do.
“Then Mason got the goal and his overall performance in the game was outstanding but the spirit of the whole team and the desire to win that game was great.”
The goal was Mount’s first in the Premier League since September but Lampard was full of praise for the youngster, even drawing comparisons with his own career.
“I thought Mason’s performance all-round was fantastic, he’s been very, very good for us, this year and last year.
“He’s a big example of when I mentioned youth, Mason turned 22 this week, and I mean – I came to Chelsea when I was 22 years of age and I wasn’t blowing the world away in my first year at Chelsea, I was finding my feet. Mason’s already got so many games under his belt.”
Fulham ventured into the game unbeaten in their last five Premier League matches and the result sees them languishing in the bottom three, with manager Scott Parker seeing the red card as a turning point.
“I’ve not seen the red card again, really,” he said. “It definitely changes the game because the game becomes a lot different for us.
“When we were growing into the game, I said we really got to grips with Chelsea and were starting to cause them some real problems and Antonee was probably at the forefront of that with the way that he was playing, defending well but was a real outlet for us.
“So of course that did change the game.”