Following Fulham’s three-nil victory over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday, Martin Jol made two changes to his starting eleven for Monday night’s West London derby at Craven Cottage.

Jol’s attacking selection was hampered by injuries to Pavel Pogrebnyak, Bryan Ruiz and Andrew Johnson but there was some positive news before kick-off, with captain Danny Murphy named in central midfield after missing out last weekend through illness.

The only other change for Fulham saw Kerim Frei return to the left wing in place of fellow youngster, Alex Kacaniklic. In the absence of attacking personnel due to injuries, leading scorer Clint Dempsey led the line for Fulham on Monday night with Orlando Sa named on the bench following his return to fitness.

Fernando Torres was named as Chelsea’s lone striker in a conservative 4-5-1 formation but with Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge, Juan Mata and Florent Malouda on the bench, there was plenty of reserve firepower for Roberto Di Matteo to call upon.

A spring shower on Easter Monday turned into a major downpour before kick-off but nothing could dampen an electric atmosphere at Craven Cottage for one of the most highly anticipated fixtures of the season.

During the opening exchanges Frei and Riise showed a sign of things to come, bursting beyond Ramires and Ivanovic down the left flank. It was to become a common theme at the Cottage on Easter Monday as Ivanovic looked isolated and uncomfortable against the marauding runs of Fulham's left sided duo.

The first clear opportunity of the match fell  to Chelsea’s Fernando Torres after 10 minutes play, but the striker's effort from 18 yards was superbly covered by Hangeland who deflected the ball high over Schwarzer’s cross bar for a corner. Torres’ strike preceded a succession of corners for the visitors until the quarter of an hour mark but in truth Chelea were restricted to wayward long range efforts until late in the first half.

After 20 minutes Fulham produced their best attacking moment of the first half and again it was fashioned down the left wing. Riise once again broke behind Chelsea’s defence on the overlap and delivered a dangerous cross to Dempsey at the far post but the American was denied a shooting opportunity after bringing the ball down at the far post.

Riise and Frei continued to cause havoc down the left flank and it was no surprise to see Meireles booked after felling the Norwegian after another lung bursting run after 23 minutes. Two minutes later it was Dembele’s turn to carve Chelsea up down the left and his cross found Dempsey lying in wait 10 yards from goal. The American did well to get the ball out under his feet before forcing Cech into a smart save.

A minute later Frei highlighted his turn of pace and close control running at speed, dribbling through a host of players in Chelsea’s half before unleashing a shot from 25 yards that zipped just wide of Cech’s post. Fulham were in the ascendancy and producing wave after wave of attacks towards the Putney End.

Chelsea looked to restore some balance towards the half hour mark by attempting to take a  firm grip on possession, but there was no cutting edge or threat to the home side in the final third. Fulham looked far more threatening and picked the pace up again with ten minutes of the first half remaining, with Cahill the next in the book for impeding Diarra’s surging run through midfield.

All Fulham’s good work was undone just two minutes before the break when Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded Chelsea a penalty after Kalou went to ground after being tackled by Danny Murphy and then Stephen Kelly.

It was hard to see what Murphy or Kelly had been penalised for but Lampard made no mistake from the spot to put Chelsea one-nil up going into the break. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Martin Jol’s team who had been by far the better side during the first 45 minutes.

Fulham came straight back at Chelsea at the start of the second half but the first chance fell Chelsea’s way, with Lampard driving the ball just wide after 48 minutes from the edge of the area. The England midfielder was appealing for a second penalty moments later after being muscled off the ball by Brede Hangeland in the area but Mark Clattenburg was left unimpressed.

The next goal was to be pivotal and during the early stages of the second half Chelsea were producing the chances, with Meireles next to blaze over Schwarzer’s bar from 18 yards. On several occasions before the hour mark Hangeland produced some superb block tackles to stop Chelsea in their tracks.

Martin Jol’s side were giving their all and the commitment and desire of his players had the home crowd on the edge of their seats. Fulham were driving forward and Frei’s influence on the left wing was again causing Chelsea problems down the left flank as the hour mark approached.

The pace of the game never dropped and Di Matteo made the first change of the game, replacing Meireles with Mata after 69 minutes. Martin Jol quickly followed suit, introducing Dickson Etuhu for captain Danny Murphy. 

Fulham then produced a sustained bout of pressure with Dempsey and Duff linking up well in the final third but the home side just lacked a final finish. After 79 minutes Dempsey tried his luck from distance with a fierce drive from 25 yards but Cech was well positioned to save comfortably.  

Martin Jol made his second change with ten minutes remaining, with Diarra making way for striker Orlando Sa. Immediately after Sa had entered the fray Cech produced a stunning save to deny Hughes' near post header from Duff's corner.

Fulham were not to be denied from the resulting coner, with Clint Dempsey rising to meet Duff's corner to head past Cech from 12 yards. The celebrations lifted the roof off the Cottage and Fulham were rewarded for their pure desire to get back on even terms and it was the least they deserved.

Dempsey's goal opened the floodgates for wave after wave of attacks from Martin Jol's team. WIth four minutes remaining Cech saved Sa's goalbound headed effort. The only thing that would deny Fulham a victory would be the final whislte - it was a race against time to for Fulham to find a winner.

With three minutes remaining Jol replaced the outstanding Frei with Kacaniklic and after three minutes of added time Referee Mark Clattenburg called time on an enthralling West London derby. Fulham were more than worthy of a point and on the balance of play Martin Jol's team can count themselves unfortunate not to have earned maximum points over the Easter period. 

Having earned four points from their two Easter fixtures against Bolton and Chelsea, Fulham secured ninth place in the Barclays Premier League on Monday night and will now look forward to their next home fixture against Wigan on Saturday 21 April (KO 3pm).