Chelsea ... 3  Fulham ... 2  Chelsea bucked their trend in London derbies to defeat Fulham and maintain their bid for a Champions League place last night. Having taken just eight points from as many capital clashes prior to this contest, another night of frustration appeared to be in store until Mikael Forssell emerged from the bench to turn in the winner eight minutes from time.

Claudio Ranieri's side, who began the evening 11 points adrift of fourth place, were twice pegged back by goals from Louis Saha.

Chelsea got their first when Mario Melchiot ran unchallenged from right-back before cutting in to shoot past a static Edwin van der Sar with his left foot.

Within 60 seconds, Fulham levelled when Saha was halted by a well-timed tackle in the area - but referee Peter Jones pointed to the spot as Saha hit the turf.

Just short of the half-hour, Chelsea regained the lead when Eidur Gudjohnsen side-footed past van der Sar, while on 73 minutes Saha headed in his second.

CHELSEA: Cudicini, Melchiot, Babayaro, Desailly, Gallas, Le Saux, Lampard, Petit (Dalla Bona 60), Zola (Gronkjaer 65), Gudjohnsen (Forssell 74), Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: de Goey, Morris. Booked: Dalla Bona. Goals: Melchiot 18, Gudjohnsen 29, Forssell 82.

FULHAM: Van der Sar, Finnan, Brevett, Goma, Ouaddou, Harley, Collins, Malbranque, Boa Morte (Hayles 71), Marlet, Saha. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Melville, Knight, Goldbaek. Goals: Saha 20 pen, 73.

Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).