LONDONL: High-flying Chelsea were stunned by neighbours Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, going down 2-1 to a 95th-minute winner from substitute Rodrigo Muniz in the Premier League on Thursday.
It was Fulham's first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979 and put a dent in second-placed Chelsea's title hopes as the hosts stay on 35 points, four points off the pace having played two games more than leaders Liverpool who host Leicester City later.
Chelsea took the lead after 16 minutes when Cole Palmer danced past two defenders and slid the ball through Issa Diop's legs into the bottom corner to score a classy goal.
Chelsea looked in control. Palmer had another two shots on target and Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was called into action with a sharp save from a diving header by Marc Cucurella.
He also tipped over a rocket from captain Enzo Fernandez early in the second half.
But Fulham, who last scored in the league at Stamford Bridge in 2011, showed renewed energy and determination as Chelsea sat back to defend their lead.
It paid off in the 82nd minute when Harry Wilson headed home from close range.
Muniz clinched all three points when he swept home a pass from Sasa Lukic in the dying moments of the match to take Fulham up to eighth with 28 points from 18 games.
Final statistics showed they deserved the win, with 26 touches in the opposition box to Chelsea's 20, more than 52% possession and 14 shots to the home side's 12.
It was Chelsea's first league loss since a 2-1 defeat on Oct. 20 by Liverpool and they risk being overtaken by Arsenal, two points behind, who play lowly Ipswich Town on Friday.
On the other hand, defending champions Champions Manchester City continued their slide down the Premier League standings with a 1-1 draw with Everton.
Fulham came from behind to put a dent in Chelsea's title hopes with a 2-1 win, Newcastle United crushed 10-man Aston Villa 3-0, and West Ham United edged Southampton 1-0 to spoil new Saints manager Ivan Juric's first game in charge.
Pep Guardiola's City saw Bernardo Silva sweep home in the 14th minute but Iliman Ndiaye levelled before Erling Haaland missed a penalty, leaving City with just one victory to show for their last 13 matches across all competitions.
City tumbled to seventh in the table, and potentially to eighth by day's end with leaders Liverpool set to host lowly Leicester City in the late game on Boxing Day.
"Incredible how (City players) run and fight and do everything. Some games have not been good, but today, the case was it was well played," Guardiola said.
"But football is about winning, football is about you score goals and you don't concede. The last month, month and a half, we are not able to do it."
