João Félix was sent off on his debut for Chelsea, as former player Willian helped Fulham to a 2-1 victory over the Blues at Craven Cottage. An exciting debut from Félix came to an abrupt halt as a reckless tackle saw him given his marching orders early in the second half. Goals from Fulham’s Willian and Carlos Vinícius sandwiched a Koulibaly equaliser, with the result seeing Chelsea sit firmly in 10th place in the Premier League.
Kepa Arrizabalaga- 4/10
A truly bizarre decision from Kepa to put himself in no man’s land as Andreas Pereira’s cross found the head of Vinícius to hand Fulham all three points. Yet another mistake by a Chelsea player which has cost the team. For Fulham’s first, Kepa was left with no chance after Chalobah deflected the ball past him.
César Azpilicueta– 4/10
Same Azpilicueta, same problems. Going forward he offers almost nothing, and even defensively nowadays he looks far past his best. Allowed 34-year-old Willian way too much space inside the box to shoot and open the scoring for Fulham in the first half.
Trevoh Chalobah- 3/10
A very disappointing performance from Chalobah, who has struggled for first-team minutes recently. Some sloppy passing from the defence caused his own teammates problems on more than one occasion. A dreadful-headed clearance handed the ball to Willian, whose shot then deflected off Chalobah past Kepa to open the scoring for Fulham.
Thiago Silva- 5/10
An off game for Thiago Silva, although it is hard to criticise him when looking at the defenders around him. Despite Aleksandar Mitrović’s suspension, Silva struggled to deal with his replacement in the form of Vinícius, who went on to score the winning goal for Fulham.
Kalidou Koulibaly- 5/10
Something of a game of two halves for Koulibaly. In the opening 45, he was arguably the worst player on the pitch. He looked uncomfortable on the ball, sloppy in defence, and just an all-around liability. He turned that on its head in the second half, however. Koulibaly grabbed the goal that drew Chelsea level with some quick reactions. He even displayed some solid tackling and played an inch-perfect pass to send Havertz through on goal in stoppage time.
Lewis Hall- 4/10
Not his best performance from Hall today. The young talent missed a big chance to open the scoring early on when the ball fell to him right in front of goal. He was then guilty of giving the ball away in silly fashion in the build-up to Willian’s opener. Hall, however, did very well to win the free-kick, leading to Chelsea’s leveller with some fine dribbling.
Mateo Kovačić- 3/10
A very poor performance from the normally reliant Croatian midfielder. Chelsea could not get hold of the midfield in the first half and Kovačić, who is normally a strong dribbler and passer looked tired today.
Denis Zakaria- 4/10
Another injury to add to the list for Chelsea. The Swiss midfielder went down early in the second half with an injury to his leg. In truth, not his best game in a Chelsea shirt, struggling to control the midfield in the first half.
Mason Mount- 3/10
A really difficult first half for Mount, who could not find the right pass at all. A clever free-kick early in the second half did help cause Chelsea’s equalising goal. In open play however, Mount failed to have an impact before being subbed off in the second half.
Kai Havertz- 4/10
There was a lot to like about Havertz and Félix’s link-up play in the first half. The Portuguese and German forwards seemed to gel well, and both could have had assists passing to each other. For Havertz, however, the same problem in front of goal persists. He should have scored early in the game when Félix crossed the ball perfectly to him right in front of goal. His shot was blocked. The German even had a chance late on in the game to score an equalising goal but saw his shot well saved.
João Félix- 5/10
What started out as what was looking like a strong debut, turned into a nightmare for the Portuguese forward. A stupid high tackle early in the second half saw Félix given a straight red card. A huge shame as the first half was very bright, with some fantastic dribbling and passing. He could’ve had an early assist after he nutmegged a Fulham defender before crossing to Havertz who had his shot blocked.
Subs
Jorginho- 6/10
When Potter subbed Jorginho on in the second half for the injured Zakaria, I imagine he was hoping the Italian could take control of the game for Chelsea. Well, that hope flew out the window when Félix was sent off the pitch just seconds later. From there it was a difficult situation for Jorginho to be in.
Conor Gallagher- N/A
Marc Cucurella- N/A
Hakim Ziyech- N/A
Carney Chukwuemeka- N/A
Graham Potter- 5/10
You have to feel for Potter today, who was let down by three terrible individual errors. Despite some exciting attacking combinations, the Blues again let themselves down in defence. Potter will now have to contend with yet another injured player in the form of Zakaria, as well as Félix’s three-game suspension as Chelsea fall further down the table.
