Joao Felix was sent off on his Chelsea debut as Fulham beat the Blues 2-1 at Craven Cottage to heap more pressure on Graham Potter.
Willian opened the scoring against his former club on 25 minutes with a deflected shot from inside the box before Kalidou Koulibaly equalised two minutes after the restart.
Felix, who had shown plenty of bright moments having been selected barely 24 hours after completing a loan move from Atletico Madrid, then lunged in on Kenny Tete and received a straight red card.
Fulham made the most of their numerical advantage as Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga failed to deal with Andreas Pereira‘s 73rd-minute cross, allowing Carlos Vinicius to nod home the winning goal and send Fulham into sixth place. Meanwhile, Chelsea remain 10th, ten points outside the top four.
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Rapid reaction
1. Felix’s Chelsea debut goes from sublime to ridiculous
It was all looking so good. Chelsea weren’t exactly dominating against Fulham but they had just equalised and Felix was at the heart of everything good about the Blues.
The 23-year-old had amassed six shots, four on target and produced some intelligent link-up play in completing 16 of his 21 passes, made all the more impressive by the fact he had taken part in just one training session after arriving from Atletico Madrid. One moment in the 58th minute changed everything.
There didn’t appear to be any malicious intent but in lunging for the ball near the halfway line, Felix made high, studs-up contact with Kenny Tete. Referee David Coote had no option to dismiss him. The repercussions for Chelsea are profound. The morale boost such an arrival could have on a beleaguered squad in a difficult period is lost.
An expensive loan — €11 million no less — just got a little pricier. And a three-game ban means he will now miss matches against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and the reverse fixture at home to Fulham. Felix has carved out an unwanted piece of history: he becomes the first player to receive a red card on their Premier League debut since Federico Fazio for Tottenham against Manchester City in October 2014.
