Chelsea 2 Fulham 1:Chelsea came from behind to spare their blushes against Fulham and restore their lead at the summit to five points. Zoltan Gera gave Roy Hodgson's side a fairytale start when he struck after just three minutes.

But then Chelsea moved through the gears and were rewarded with two goals in two minutes with Didier Drogba notching the equaliser before the pressure forced defender Chris Smalling to concede an own goal.

It was a cruel blow for Fulham who defended heroically until the Blues’ onslaught began to take its toll.

The 20-year-old Smalling, deputising for the injured Brede Hangeland, will feel particularly aggrieved after making a fine full debut — until he turned the ball into his own net.

Chelsea’s unconvincing performance, which was one dimensional and lacked imagination, will have given their title rivals further encouragement that the championship race is far from over.

Jose Mourinho, watching from the stands in preparation for Inter Milan’s Champions League clash against his former club, will also have been encouraged by what he saw.

Chelsea suffered from an abysmal lack of penetration in the final third where vast reams of possession were wasted amid a flurry of mishit shots. In contrast, Fulham were able to unpick their opponents as early as the fourth minute.

Paul Konchesky found acres of space on the left before launching a cross that deceived Terry and the England skipper watched in horror as Bobby Zamora, stationed six yards out, found Gera.

The Hungarian was stood at point blank range but still had work to do as he controlled the ball, turned and planted his shot beyond Petr Cech.

Only resolute defending was keeping the blue horde at bay with Konchesky executing a well-timed tackle on Lampard as the England midfielder weaved his way into the area.

For all their possession, however, Chelsea were failing to create any chances and were becoming less of a threat as the match progressed.

Chelsea enjoyed a lucky escape seconds after the interval when poorly-judged backpass by Carvalho was intercepted by Zamora, whose shot cannoned off the leg of the advancing Cech.

Schwarzer was pressed into action on the hour when he made a fine stop of Drogba’s curling effort from the edge of the area.

Fulham’s defence was finally starting to creak but two poor shots by Kalou and Lampard let them off the hook.

Chelsea replaced Mikel with Daniel Sturridge and Fulham brought on Andy Johnson for Gera as the match entered the final 20 minutes.

The equaliser finally arrived in the 73rd minute, substitute Branislav Ivanovic picking out Drogba who rose above Chris Baird at the far post to nod home.

And two minutes later Chelsea stormed ahead when Smalling, attempting to clear Schwarzer’s save of Sturridge’s shot, turned the ball into his own net for the winner.