JOSÉ MOURINHO DEVOTED HIS programme notes to celebrating this country’s love affair with festive football and his players proved true to his word by serving up a Christmas cracker. Having welcomed Fulham as the club’s little brother, Chelsea risked receiving a bloody nose on Boxing Day, throwing away a two-goal lead before landing a magnificent counter-punch to maintain their 100 per cent home record, which now stands at a perfect ten.

If only Chelsea games were always this much fun. Surprisingly sluggish at the back, Mourinho’s side were still scintillating going forward, with Hernán Crespo rounding off an entertaining afternoon with a superb winner, though much credit must go to Fulham for having the courage to attack the champions.

The only person not to enjoy the occasion was Shaun Wright-Phillips, who, after being given a rare start, was hauled off after 45 confidence-sapping minutes. In the unlikely event that he returns with the squad to Manchester City tomorrow, he will spend most of the time wondering why he ever left.

Mourinho gave him little encouragement afterwards, preferring to praise his players’ character, particularly Joe Cole. “I’m happy because it was a very good experience for my team to get out of trouble,” the Chelsea manager said. “The way we played was only possible because of my players’ personality. Joe is playing absolutely magnificently every game and I thought it was not very clever to have my best attacking player in midfield. When I came here, nobody knows Cole’s position, not even him.”

Chris Coleman, the Fulham manager, was equally pleased with his team’s performance, though less happy at Graham Poll’s failure to award a late penalty after John Terry blocked a drive from Luis Boa Morte.

“There’s no doubt it was a penalty, but you don’t get two penalties at Stamford Bridge at the moment,” he said. “Maybe as he’d already given us one he was affected, but it doesn’t get me anywhere digging referees out. We had a go at Chelsea and they never settled. They’ve got the best defender in the country in Terry, but McBride and Helguson terrorised them all afternoon. We deserved at least a point. ”

Mourinho conceded that Fulham could have had another penalty, but his side deserved to win because of their greater tactical flexibility. Chelsea had threatened to run away with it after William Gallas scored in the third minute but, unusually at Stamford Bridge, the opening goal was the start, not the end of the fun.

Fulham refused to hoist the white flag and slowly fought back into the game. That they soon went two goals down seemed cruel, particularly as Frank Lampard’s drive was deflected off Sylvain Legwinski beyond Mark Crossley.

Any goalkeeper who has suffered a similar fate would have nodded in sympathy, presumably including Petr Cech, who almost immediately threw Fulham a lifeline. The Czech Republic international contrived to allow Boa Morte’s 29th-minute free kick to pass through his arms and his legs, with McBride tapping in from close range. For anyone making the next edition of those goalkeeping gaffe videos, the first Chelsea goal conceded in all competitions in 718 minutes was worth waiting for.

An even more unusual event occurred after the interval, with Chelsea giving away their first second-half goal since April 12. Liam Rosenior played a fine ball to Helguson inside the penalty area, the Iceland striker falling under a reckless challenge from Cole before converting from the penalty spot. Cole was fortunate not to be sent from the field, either by Poll, the referee, or Mourinho, but the Portuguese was rewarded for sticking to his attacking instincts. Chelsea looked equally comfortable with three at the back and benefited from Didier Drogba’s presence alongside Crespo up front. After bringing a magnificent save from Crossley, the Argentina striker had the last word, showing outstanding balance to volley home Cole’s first-time cross.

“It was a wonderful goal,” Mourinho said. “I was sorry to take him [Crespo] off, but we were playing a crazy system and had to defend.” After such Christmas cheer, Chelsea are likely to revert to type.