A fine second-half performance saw Chelsea fight back from a goal down to beat local neighbours Fulham 2-1 in new manager Roy Hodgson's first game in charge at Craven Cottage.

The home side took a ninth-minute lead thanks to Danny Murphy's penalty, although Chelsea dominated after the break and took the points thanks to Salomon Kalou's 54th-minute header and Michael Ballack's penalty just after the hour.

It was a hard-fought victory for the injury-ravaged Blues, who continue to cling on to the coat-tails of the leading two at the top of the Premier League. In contrast, Hodgson will be left with no illusions as to the size of his task at Fulham, stuck in 19th position after another frustrating afternoon where they threw away an early lead.

Fulham took advantage of a sluggish start by Chelsea with an early goal, although Avram Grant was clearly unhappy with referee Mark Halsey's decision to award a penalty.

In truth, Moritz Volz did go down rather dramatically when Joe Cole accidentally caught his heels after the German had superbly rounded Juliano Belletti and jinxed into the penalty area - but television replays did show contact between the two.

Murphy, who had a superb game throughout, calmly sent Hilario the wrong way before rolling the spot-kick home to give Fulham the lead just nine minutes into Hodgson's tenure.

Chelsea did gradually improve as the half went on, although they were let down by some slack passing and a strange indecision on the few occasions they did get in behind the organised Fulham defence.

Kalou would have won himself a penalty when he got to the ball just before Antti Niemi, only for the flag of the linesman to immediately curtail any remonstrations to the referee.

Other than that, the travelling Chelsea fans had little to get excited about until ten minutes after the restart when the unmarked Kalou got the equaliser, nodding past Niemi after Alex had met a corner with a towering header back across goal.

And just five minutes later, the visitors were in front. Like Volz in the first half, Ballack went down far too easily when Clint Dempsey tugged his shirt as the two challenged for a free-kick swung into the penalty area, but there were no real complaints from Fulham.

Ballack made no mistake with the spot-kick as Fulham saw yet another first-half advantage turned around in the second period, a frustrating habit that could yet prove a costly one.

The home side showed plenty of hussle and enthusiasm in their search for an equaliser, but never really came close to threatening Hilario over the course of the second half.

Indeed, Chelsea had chances to extend their lead, substitute Claudio Pizzaro wasting the best late on when he fired a low volley well wide after a poor defensive header by Carlos Bocanegra.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport