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Chelsea came from behind to spoil Roy Hodgson's first game in charge of Fulham with a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage.

Avram Grant's men produced a dominant second half performance to take all three points and keep their title bid on track.

Danny Murphy gave Hodgson the dream start with the opener from the penalty spot on 10 minutes after Moritz Volz was brought down by Joe Cole.

Chelsea hit back and drew level on 54 minutes when Salomon Kalou headed home Alex's knock-down from close-range.

The visitors grabbed the winner just past the hour mark when captain for the day Michael Ballack scored from the penalty spot after going down in the box under a challenge from Clint Dempsey.

It had looked very different at the start, however, with just 90 seconds on the clock when Diomansy Kamara tested goalkeeper Hilario at the near post following a classy interchange from Paul Konchesky and Simon Davies.

Fulham continued their lively start with Kamara and Murphy seeing plenty of ball, but they were caught on the break in the sixth minute.

Joe Cole did the initial damage with a well-timed run that swept him past Volz and he expertly picked out Kalou, only for Antti Niemi to pluck the shot from the air.

Chelsea created another great chance moments later with Steven Davis running into a trio of Blue shirts and giving possession away.

Kalou emerged with the ball and threaded a clever pass to Shaun Wright-Phillips, who sprinted clear before directing a poor effort wide of the left post.

Fulham succeeded in the 10th minute where their local rivals had failed - with a bit of help from Cole.

Volz skipped around Wayne Bridge and into the box only to have his ankle clipped by Cole - and referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot, with Murphy making no mistake.

The Blues looked fired up at the start of the second half as they tore into Fulham and felt aggrieved not to

have won a penalty when Dejan Stefanovic handled Wright-Phillips' cross.

But they could not be denied in the 54th minute when Belletti whipped in a precision corner to Alex, who directed a header across the face of goal.

Kalou still had work to do, but leaping between Bocanegra and Davies he connected cleanly and Niemi had no chance.

Cole flashed a shot narrowly wide and Ballack was beaten to the ball by Dejan Stefanovic in the nick of time.

The German continued to be a menace to Fulham's defence and he was on target from the spot for Chelsea's second as the title chasers began to overwhelm their opponents.

Ballack broke into the box but his shirt was tugged by Dempsey and Halsey, who was well placed, had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.

Substitute David Healy and Cole had half-chances but it was Fulham who enjoyed the brighter moments of a nervy finish.

Their late dominance failed to pay off, however, as Chelsea held firm through four minutes of injury-time to thwart their London rivals.

Teams

Fulham  Niemi, Bocanegra, Konchesky, Omozusi, Stefanovic, Volz (Ki-Hyeon 68), Davies, Davis (Smertin 70), Dempsey, Murphy, Kamara (Healey 77)
Subs Not Used Warner, Kugi
Booked Stefanovic
Goals Murphy (pen) 10

Chelsea  Hilario, Alex, Belletti, Ben-Haim, Bridge, Ballack, J. Cole (Ferreira 90), Essien, Sidwell (Mikel 46), Wright-Phillips (Pizarro 88), Kalou
Subs Not Used  Taylor, Sinclair
Booked
Goals  Kalou 54, Ballack (pen) 62

Attendance 25,357

Referee M. Halsey