Chelsea were ahead after 31 seconds, 3-1 up by the hour, and still had to survive the last half hour

Cole Palmer picked the ball up from the kick-off, Joao Pedro finished, and Xabi Alonso's Chelsea were ahead after thirty-one seconds. It is the kind of start that usually settles a game. This one it did not.

Fulham took the ball off Chelsea for most of the ninety minutes — 61.5% of it — and Josh King levelled on 23 with a shot that went through Robert Sanchez at his near post.

Palmer looks like Palmer again

Chelsea's answer came from their front three. Morgan Rogers, on debut, was unmarked at the back post to turn in Maxence Lacroix's cross on 41. Four minutes into the second half Rogers flicked one on for Palmer, who made it three.

That is a goal and an assist for Palmer on the opening day, after a season in which fitness kept getting in the way. Alonso will take it.

Five minutes later Sanchez spilled a Timothy Castagne effort and Goncalo Garcia turned in the rebound, and the last half hour became something Chelsea had to defend rather than manage. Antonee Robinson tried to chip Sanchez on 78 with the goalkeeper off his line and missed by some way.

Two managers, two readings

Alvaro Arbeloa saw enough to be encouraged: "If we continue to play in that way, we're going to win a lot of games." On the numbers he has a case — Fulham matched Chelsea for shots on target and out-passed them comfortably.

Alonso was not getting carried away either way: "It's day one. And normally it's easier to learn with three points."

The pattern kept repeating for Chelsea

Alonso's next two league games followed the same shape as this one. Chelsea raced 3-0 clear inside 32 minutes at home to Brighton, needed a Cole Palmer strike on 74 to see off a fightback that took it to 4-3, and then went to the Emirates and lost for the first time under the new manager, 2-1 to Arsenal, after taking an early lead through Morgan Rogers. Three games in, Chelsea have scored eight goals — the joint-best return in the division — but conceded seven, the shakiest defensive record of anyone in the current top six.

That is the trade-off of Alonso's opening weeks: goals coming easily up front, games getting harder to see out than they should be. Chelsea sit 4th in the Premier League table on 6 points, with a goal difference of +1, still inside the Champions League places after three rounds.

Fulham never found the win their possession promised

For Fulham, this game turned out to be as good as the opening weeks got. A week later they lost 1-0 at Sunderland without registering a single shot on target, despite holding 58.6% of the ball. Two matches after that they led Crystal Palace 2-1 at Craven Cottage through Josh King and César Palacios, out-shooting the visitors 25-10 with an expected-goals tally of 3.13, and still lost 3-2 as Tyrick Mitchell's second goal and a late Ben Chilwell strike completed the comeback.

Three matchweeks in, Fulham are bottom of the table on zero points, with four goals scored and seven conceded — a goal difference of -3. The pattern set here against Chelsea, plenty of the ball but not enough end product, has followed Álvaro Arbeloa's side through every game since.

Match facts

• 1' — Joao Pedro (Chelsea), 31 seconds in, set up by Cole Palmer
• 23' — Josh King (Fulham)
• 41' — Morgan Rogers (Chelsea), assisted by Maxence Lacroix
• 49' — Cole Palmer (Chelsea), assisted by Morgan Rogers
• 54' — Goncalo Garcia (Fulham), after a Robert Sanchez spill

What's next

Both go again on Sunday 30 August. Fulham travel to Sunderland, a game their performance here says they should win. Chelsea host Brighton, who put four past Aston Villa on Sunday — and who will have noticed how the two Fulham goals went in.