Rogers scores on debut as Chelsea beats Fulham to win Premier League opener

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea record signing Morgan Rogers scored on his debut while beating Fulham 3-2 to give new coach Xabi Alonso a perfect start to the Premier League season on Monday.

Rogers signed from Aston Villa last month and scored four minutes before halftime when he slotted home a sweet cutback from Maxence Lacroix.

Brazilian João Pedro gave Chelsea the lead after 32 seconds, only for Josh King to equalize midway through the first half.

Cole Palmer, one of Chelsea’s outstanding performers on the night, made it 3-1 with 49 minutes gone when he fired home from a tight angle after running on to João Pedro’s pass.

Fulham cut the deficit almost immediately — Gonzalo García heading down and into the net after Sanchez could only parry Timothy Castagne’s low shot — and it poured forward in search of a winner but it was not to be.

Instead, Chelsea's front three took the plaudits with a dazzling performance that coach Alonso called “a good first day.”

“It is a great combination and great quality," he said. "We know that if we reach them in a good position then they have this talent to create special things. Today I am happy that all three scored.”

The fixture matched Alonso against his former Real Madrid and Spain teammate Álvaro Arbeloa, who was also making his first appearance in the Fulham dugout.

“We deserved a little bit more but football is not about what you deserve, it’s about what you take," a disappointed Arbeloa said, although he added he was pleased with his players' attitude. "This is how we’re going to play no matter who is in front of us.”

Both men managed Real Madrid for periods last season but moved to England after being relieved of their duties at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Alonso won out in an entertaining game at Craven Cottage.

Chelsea has spent more than 300 million pounds ($408 million) on new players and is one of the early favorites to challenge champion Arsenal.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Fulham's Josh King and Gonzalo Garcia celebrate after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Chelsea in London, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Chelsea's head coach Xabi Alonso shouts instructions during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Chelsea in London, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer, left, and Fulham's Josh King fight for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Chelsea in London, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Chelsea's Morgan Rogers celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Chelsea in London, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Monday in a case over President Donald Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting, though it remains unclear how much can be implemented before the fast-approaching midterm elections.

The decision leaves room for additional court challenges that could further slow Trump's order, and other similar cases have already been filed. The U.S. Postal Service laid out how it would implement the order last week, but time is running short to impose major changes with some states beginning to send mail ballots to voters in just a few weeks.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority didn’t decide the legality of Trump's order, instead ruling that the states did not have the legal right to challenge it.

“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order.

The three liberal-leaning justices publicly dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the rule “lets another shoe drop in the Kafkaesque nightmare that our precedents have been steadily creating for certain plaintiffs who seek to bring election-related challenges.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James foreshadowed more legal wrangling, calling the decision a “painful setback” but vowing it would “not be the final word.”

The court’s order opens a path for the administration to begin action to restrict mail voting, but it also could lead to a bevy of potential further litigation that could freeze the federal government again, all starting 10 days before the first mail ballots in the nation are scheduled to be sent to overseas and military voters from North Carolina.

“This is just the first inning of a very fast nine-inning game,” said Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame University.

Mail balloting has long been a favorite target for Trump, who has claimed that it breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and his own use of the voting method.

Trump's executive order, signed in March, calls on his administration to create lists of eligible voters and orders the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on those lists.

Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia sued to block the order. They argued that the Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections, and Trump’s changes could lead to chaos and partisan abuse.

“The consequences of allowing such transformative changes to take effect so close to this fall’s elections would be extreme,” attorneys for the states wrote. Dozens of state and local election officials weighed in, asking the justices to leave the order frozen while election preparations are already underway.

A judge in Massachusetts blocked the plan for the midterm elections in those states. An appeals court upheld her decision. She later granted a second order blocking it nationwide, another potential stumbling block for Trump administration plan.

The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court on procedural grounds in late July, arguing that the states sued too soon. They also pointed to another ruling out of Washington, where a judge allowed Trump’s order to proceed. An appeals court backed that decision, while still leaving room for future court action if the changes are implemented.

Federal attorneys argued that the Massachusetts order “blocks the government’s ability to finalize and implement the President’s proposed policies to promote election integrity for the upcoming federal elections in November.”

A dozen Republican-leaning states supported the federal government in their own appeal before the high court, saying states would have input on the final voter lists.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled against Trump-backed arguments on mail-in ballots, finding in June that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day. That case was decided after full briefing and arguments, rather than on the court’s emergency docket.

Trump has blamed mail voting — without credible evidence — for his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. He has promoted the proposed changes in his executive order as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting.

He’s also repeatedly pressed for the passage of the legislation that requires proof of citizenship to vote. Noncitizen voting has been shown to be rare, and is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

Using mail ballots has become increasingly popular with voters of both parties, with about 30% of all ballots cast that way during the 2024 presidential election, according to federal data. The process also is secure. A 2025 Brookings Institution study found only about four cases of fraud out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.

Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this story.

An election worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office for the Florida primary election in Doral, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

An election worker places a vote-by-mail ballot into a secure bin at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office during the Florida primary election in Doral, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)