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Palmer and Joao Pedro both scored and assisted at Craven Cottage, where Chelsea hit the front after just 31 seconds.

Joao Pedro was played in by Palmer and calmly dispatched over Bernd Leno, bringing up Chelsea's quickest Premier League goal since 2016.

Yet Fulham showed plenty of bite in Alvaro Arbeloa's first league game at the helm, and Josh King hauled it level in the 23rd minute.

Although, Fulham's leveller owed much to an error from Robert Sanchez, who got down to King's attempt but made a mess of his save.

It was a bad day for Sanchez in general, with Chelsea's goalkeeper looking nervy throughout, and failing to cover himself in glory when Gonzalo Garcia marked his Premier League bow with a goal in the 54th minute.

Garcia's header into an empty net, with Sanchez having parried Timothy Castagne's shot back out into the danger area, came after Rogers and Palmer had put Chelsea 3-1 up.

Maxence Lacroix showed skill befitting of a top-tier forward to tee up Rogers, who slammed in his first Chelsea goal four minutes before half-time.

Rogers then played a part in Chelsea's third, early in the second half, flicking it on for Joao Pedro, who held the play up brilliantly to tee up Palmer, with the playmaker sending a crisp finish under Leno.

Garcia's effort put Chelsea on notice, and Sanchez was fortunate to get away with some dismal positioning when Antonee Robinson latched onto a punt over the top of the Blues' defence, only to put his lob wide.

That was the best Fulham could offer, though, until Rodrigo Muniz saw a long-range strike saved with the final kick of the game, just after Joao Pedro had seen a strike disallowed for offside.