Joao Felix sent off on Chelsea debut as Blues lose to Fulham

Even though Chelsea sat behind their West London rivals Fulham in the Premier League ahead of kick-off, it was the Blues who started on the front foot, with the first big chance falling the way of Lewis Hall. The academy graduate’s close-range effort at the far post was well saved by the legs of Bernd Leno.

Both teams started brightly, with Vinicius and Felix firing off-target at either end, before Bobby Decordova-Reid rattled the bar for the hosts. Minutes later, the Cottagers took the lead as the Blues failed to deal with a cross into the box which fell to former Chelsea man Willian, who saw his deflected shot beat Kepa from close range.

The visitors desperately tried to get back into the game before the break, but they were twice thwarted by Bernd Leno, who firstly made a brilliant stop from Lewis Hall’s effort, which took a clip off a defender, before making a smart stop from Felix’s snapshot.

Chelsea’s fortunes were somewhat better after the break though as they equalised just two minutes into the second period through Kalidou Koulibaly, forcing home from close range after Mason Mount’s free-kick had rattled the post.

They continued to attack in search of another goal but the Blues seemed to lack any incisiveness in the final third. The Koulibaly goal was as good as it got for the Blues though, who had Felix sent off just before the hour mark, receiving a straight red card for a reckless and high tackle on Kenny Tete.

Fulham created a lot of their chances from the flanks and fifteen minutes later, they took the lead again thanks to a Carlos Vinicius towering header.

 He met Andreas Pereira’s cross to nod home and earn Marco Silva’s side a thoroughly deserved three points, while Chelsea suffered their sixth defeat in eight games.

Joao Felix only arrived at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, but he was thrown straight into the starting line-up and put in a lively display, drifting across the front line and forcing Bernd Leno into a handful of saves.

However, due to his mistimed tackle, Felix will now miss Chelsea’s next three matches after picking up a straight red card just before the hour-mark for a reckless lunge into Kenny Tete as he tried to win back possession.