Palmer back to irresistible best as Alonso's Chelsea get the better of their Fulham rivals on opening weekend

First night assembly at the Cottage

Premier League

Fulham (1) 2 King 23, Gonzalo Garcia 54

Chelsea (2) 3 Joao Pedro 1, Rogers 41, Palmer 49

New managers. Some new players. But none of them were Harry Wilson.

This is a fixture that has inspired some scintillating performances from the Whites in recent seasons - with Wilson the catalyst - but this time they had to accept they were second best as Cole Palmer ran the show for the Blues.

The Chelsea midfielder was back to his string-pulling best - and having been a mere shadow of his former self last season during an injury-ravaged campaign, he came good again. He made one for Joao Pedro with the game barely 30 seconds old and clipped in the third through the legs of Bernd Leno after being fed by Pedro - the Brazilian returning the compliment for that opening goal.

But it wasn't just that. In between those key moments, he was always heavily involved - getting the Blues on the front foot with some silky touches and progressive passing. He was really hard to shackle.

Fulham played well in parts and their Madrid newcomers Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios both gave new boss Alvaro Arbeloa reason for optimism about the weeks ahead, but in truth it was only the errors from Robert Sanchez which gave the Whites a chance of claiming a point.

The Chelsea keeper allowed Josh King's lively dart and low shot to beat him at the near post for a soft equalier and was also at fault for the second Fulham goal when he could only parry a Timothy Castagne shot into the orbit of Gonzalo Garcia for an easy finish from a stooping header.

It came just moments after Chelsea appeared to have completely taken control when Palmer scored at the start of the second half to build on the 2-1 lead they took before the break when Morgan Rogers netted on his debut.

The £117m man finished coolly after another debutant, Maxence Lacroix, had drifted into the right channel before laying a perfect cross for the former Aston Villa striker to put away.

It needed the inrroduction of Enzo Fernandez for Romeo Lavia to give the Blues the control they needed to see out the game. The Argentinian was subjected to predictable catcalls from home fans - mindful of his provocative behaviour in the World Cup during the clash with England - but Chelsea fans sang his name with gusto.

For most of them, the fact he wants away and has show little regard for the nation he plays in matters little as long as he is wearing the blue of Chelsea.

The match ought to have been won more comfortably but the Whites warmed their fans with a spirited response to conceding three times to their bitter rivals - and they did well to get into the game having conceded after 31 seconds when Pedro finished smoothly after racing on to Palmer's deft touch.

For Xabi Alonso it was far from a perfect start but a very satisfying one none the less.

Whites: (4-2-3-1) Leno - Castagne, Bassey, Cuenca, Robinson (Muniz 82) - Berge (Sessegnon 73) , Iwobi - Bobb (Charles 67), King, Palacios (Kevin 73) - Garcia

Blues: (3-4-2-1) Sanchez - Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill - Gusto (Pedro Neto 76), James, Lavia (Fernandez 65), Hato (Pep Chavarria 65) - Palmer (Estevao 83), Rogers (Quenda 82) - Joao Pedro

Attendance: 27,461