"#AdiosJoao" - Fulham delete tweet mocking Joao Felix for getting a red card on his debut in Chelsea's defeatΒ
Fulham's official account deleted a tweet taking a dig at Chelsea's Joao Felix after his red card in the London derby on Thursday (12 January) at Craven Cottage, as per Metro.
The Portugal international was named in manager Graham Potter's starting XI just one day after completing his loan transfer from Atletico Madrid. He started the game well and was arguably his team's best player in the first half, with five shot attempts.
His team went into the half-time break 1-0 down but Kalidou Koulibaly made up for his shoddy defending in the first 45 minutes by scoring early in the second half. However, Felix's 58th-minute red card complicated things for the Blues.
He went studs raised in a 50-50 challenge with Fulham's Kenny Tete and was shown a straight red. As it was dangerous play rather than a professional foul, he is scheduled to miss his team's next three games.
After the sending-off, the Cottagers could not resist taking a dig at Chelsea's latest high-profile signing. They tweeted '#AdiosFelix' but the tweet was deleted soon after.
This was in response to Chelsea's welcome message to the former SL Benfica forward, where they welcomed him with a 'HolaFelix' hashtag. They deleted the tweet after fans pointed out that 'Ola' would have been the ideal word for that phrase, given that Felix is Portugese, not Spanish.
Given the two teams' London rivalry, such banter is expected. But it was no laughing matter for Potter, who saw his team lose to Fulham via a Carlos Vinicius goal in the 73rd minute.
The loss keeps the west London giants 10th in the league table with just 25 points from 18 games.
Chelsea boss okay with Joao Felix's red card vs Fulham
After the match, Potter did not seem to have any complaints about Felix's straight red card. Describing it as a "forward's tackle", the Chelsea boss told reporters (h/t Eurosport):
"It was a forwards tackle, there was no malice in it but I understand why it was a red. It is another blow; the hits keep coming at the moment."
He added:
"It is one of those really tough moments for us and everything that seems to be going wrong is at the moment. He was really good you could see his quality in the game so it is doubly disappointing for us."
Chelsea now face Crystal Palace in another London derby on January 15 before a high-profile trip to Liverpool to face the Reds. Following that, the next game against Fulham will complete Felix's three-match suspension.