SOCCER/Fulham 2 Chelsea 2:CHELSEA WAVERED for an instant and their season swung drastically off course. Following Clint Dempsey's second goal of the afternoon for Fulham, in the 89th minute, the visitors now lie three points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and their next fixture in this competition is at Old Trafford.

They will feel all the more distressed because they failed marginally to come up with the type of gritty victory that would have smacked of the Mourinho period.

Fulham came into this game on a run of eight league fixtures unbeaten and then took the lead. Luiz Felipe Scolari, in addition, was compelled to take off Florent Malouda and Alex, who had hamstring injuries, before the interval.

Frank Lampard then scored twice and this had the makings of a morale-building result. Instead there will be brooding that the side is no longer so resilient.

Dempsey levelled the match with a header from Simon Davies' corner. The American was not marked and had a gap into which he could steer a header.

A spirited Chelsea might have regained the lead, but Mark Schwarzer denied Ashley Cole and Lampard's effort was blocked amid yells for a penalty.

Attention will therefore be fixed on the visitors' deficiencies. John Terry was suspended but the remaining defenders ought still to be competent in their captain's absence.

Ricardo Carvalho should be exonerated. He came off the bench after being out with knee ligament trouble since October and instantly displayed outstanding form. A lapse elsewhere in the back four undid Chelsea and Scolari's preparation will once more be doubted.

It would still be a gross error not to appreciate the steady and resourceful line-up Roy Hodgson has pieced together for Fulham. Even with Jimmy Bullard unfit, there was cohesion and spirit.

For all the vigour of Chelsea's revival at Craven Cottage, neutrals could take some pleasure in seeing the spoils shared.

The sides were tied on their level of fallibility. Chelsea coped so badly with Davies's deep free-kick from the Fulham left that Dempsey had the liberty to take a touch before putting his shot behind Petr Cech in the 10th minute.

The equaliser saw Joe Cole chip a through-pass, after 50 minutes, that confused both Aaron Hughes and Schwarzer as Didier Drogba applied pressure. Possession broke to Lampard and he took the opportunity capably.

Chelsea had been fighting their own inadequacies as much as Fulham. Deco, specifically, had an atrocious time of it. There was a brief period in which he was either hitting passes straight out of play or failing to lift a corner over the first defender.

The Portugal international's form has deteriorated severely and, for the time being, it looks as if he left La Liga for the Premier League just as his career went into headlong decline.

Scolari's squad could still have surmounted every difficulty. Lampard, most obviously, would not tolerate Chelsea lagging 1-0. In a spell before half-time his attempts demanded saves from Schwarzer.

Fulham had appreciated then that the acting captain was their principal concern but Lampard was not to be nullified. Eighteen minutes from the end Schwarzer positioned himself poorly at a free-kick and there was also a space through which the midfielder could flight home Chelsea's second goal with a dipping finish.

Fulham are a well-drilled, industrious group with high morale and Hodgson has served the club wonderfully by building such a group, but a recovery should still have been beyond them.

Lively and busy as Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson had been in attack, they could not quite break loose and, what is more, their energy inevitably ebbed. Chelsea had the situation under control, or so it appeared.

Indeed this was so nearly an occasion to bolster Chelsea. Carvalho was in action once more and Nicolas Anelka, on for Malouda, had some time to see if he and Drogba could operate in tandem, a tactical option which Scolari views with unease. There would have been a modest satisfaction, as well, in bringing Fulham's unbeaten run to a halt.

Instead there is unease once more about Scolari's regime. Chelsea will also be dismayed at the thought that, conceivably, they may be embarking on another campaign this summer to discover the true heir to Mourinho.

The rest of us can simply be content that the top clubs are all being compelled to live in anxious times.