Failed debut for Joao Felix at Chelsea, team manager Graham Potter under pressure: At FC Fulham led by German goalkeeper Bernd Leno, the troubled Blues lost 1-2 (0-1) in the Premier League on Thursday. Felix, loaned from Atletico Madrid for around eleven million euros on Wednesday, was in the starting XI and played well, but saw the red card after a serious foul (58th minute). The Portugal international found Fulham’s Kenny Tete on an open-soled tackle at knee height.
Meanwhile, ex-Chelsea pro Willian (25′) and Carlos Vinicius (73′) caused the visitors’ defeat, for which defender Kalidou Koulibaly (47′) scored. “It’s another blow, the hits are coming all the time at the moment. We’re suffering from that,” Potter said of Felix’s dismissal. “It was a tackle from a forward, there was no malice involved, but I understand why there was a red . He was really good, you could see his quality in the game, so it’s doubly disappointing for us.”
Chelsea, ten points adrift of the Champions League places in tenth, now have just one win in their last eight competitive games. Potter, who only inherited the surprisingly dismissed Thomas Tuchel last September, has been criticized for weeks.
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