Chelsea U21 0-3 Fulham U21

An emphatic Luke Harris hat-trick helped give Fulham Under-21s a superb 3-0 win away at Chelsea.

Steve Wigley named two changes to the side that dispatched West Ham United on the opening day. Harris came into the attacking-midfield role in place of Kristian Šekularac, while Idris Odutayo replaced Stefan Parkes at left-back.

The hosts named a pretty strong team themselves, with senior players Ben Chilwell, Trevor Chalobah, Ethan Ampadu and Carney Chukwuemeka all starting.

Chelsea created a decent opportunity in the opening five minutes. Omari Hutchinson created some space for himself through neat dribbling, before lashing a low effort wide.

We hit back soon after, with Ollie O’Neill’s excellent cross from the right whizzing just past Terry Ablade. The forward couldn’t quite reach the pacey delivery.

After a cagey spell in the game, Harris put us ahead on 22 minutes. The Welshman calmly slotted home after pouncing on a defensive error. As can often be said for Harris, he found himself in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

The young Whites were purring under the Kingsmeadow lights, and looked dangerous every time they charged forward. The experienced Chelsea back line were scrambling away a number of great deliveries from both sides.

Ben Elliott had a go for the hosts five minutes before the break, when his acrobatic diving header flew wide. The delivery from Dion Rankine was a good one.

Our lead was doubled as we approached the break, and it was that man again. Harris turned in onto his “weaker” left foot before pinging a low drive past goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe at the near post.

Some first-half brilliance from the youngster ensured that we took a two-goal lead into the break.

The Chelsea stopper was tested almost instantly after the interval. O’Neill fed Ablade through and his powerful strike from an angle was palmed away. Promising start from the young Whites.

The home side threw a punch back as we approached the hour-mark. Captain Bashir Humphreys powered forward before finding Elliott, whose shot was deflected just wide. The resulting corner came to little.

Two became three on 69 minutes, and it was hat-trick delight for Harris. Ablade did excellently to turn his defender and charge towards the Chelsea goal. His initial shot was saved but pushed straight into the path of the Welshman, who slammed in from point-blank range.

Chelsea definitely should have grabbed one back with 10 to play. The ball rolled across the box to Lewis Hall, who somehow fired over despite finding himself with time and space.

A superb display against an experienced Chelsea side means it's six points from six for Steve Wigley's lads.