Morgan Rogers made a stellar start to his Chelsea career, scoring in his first official match and helping Xabi Alonso's side clinch a 3-2 victory over Fulham in a London derby.
Chelsea opened the scoring within 32 seconds through Joao Pedro, only for Joshua King to level for Fulham shortly after. Before the half-time whistle, Rogers found the net for his first goal in blue, and at the start of the second half, Cole Palmer extended Chelsea's lead. Fulham responded with a goal from Gonzalo Garcia, but they couldn’t find an equaliser.
After the match, Rogers expressed that this is precisely the kind of debut he had envisioned following his move from Aston Villa:
It was a great match. Scoring and helping the team to win is all I wanted from my debut.
I think we played some really good football, and it was genuinely enjoyable to play. Fulham’s ground is always difficult, they played very well, but we showed character and fight. I think we were stronger this evening.
In my opinion, we deserved the win, and I’m really pleased with how the match went.
The Chelsea newcomer played in an attacking role alongside Cole Palmer, although he had to be substituted with about ten minutes to go.
Rogers explained that he is still working towards regaining full fitness following his participation in the World Cup:
Towards the end, I wasn’t feeling quite as sharp and was a bit tired, which is why I stepped off for the last ten minutes.
During pre-season, I felt great, but I had little rest due to the World Cup, so I wanted to maintain my freshness.
When you join a new team, the last thing you want is to look sluggish and not keep up with the tempo. So, I’ve been trying to keep myself in the best shape and get back to the required levels as quickly as possible.
Despite scoring and winning on his debut, Rogers believes there’s still room for improvement:
I think there’s more to come from me. I need to push on to the next level as quickly as possible because the games come thick and fast. But I felt good on the pitch and enjoyed my time out there.
