If somebody had told you then the Blues would be trailing Fulham and Brentford in the Premier League table towards the tail-end of 2022-23, you would have found yourself calling for a steward’s enquiry.
Yet that is exactly what has happened, with Chelsea’s recent decline matched by impressive rises in fortune for the Cottagers and the Bees, who go into tonight’s derby in seventh and ninth place respectively.
The world felt very different when these teams met in a seismic match in 2020. For one thing, the Championship play-off final had been delayed until August that year due to the Covid pandemic, with Britain still in a partial lockdown state and Wembley’s stands empty for the match.
The game was a tight, tense affair and remained goalless after 90 minutes. The real drama was saved for extra-time.
First, Joe Bryan caught David Raya off guard with a free-kick from 40 yards. And then with only minutes left, Bryan played a one-two with Aleksandar Mitrovic and slotted home to make it 2-0. Henrik Dalsgaard headed a goal back but it was too little, too late.
For Fulham boss Scott Parker, it felt like redemption after his team had suffered so badly when relegated in 2018-19, although relegation followed again in 2020-21.
Marco Silva replaced Parker in the hot seat and it’s been good times at Craven Cottage since.
Brentford had another year to prepare for life in the Premier League, earned with play-off victory over Swansea at Wembley in 2021. (Nick Metcalfe)
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