Graham Potter gives his verdict on Chelsea star Joao Felix's disastrous debut and red card
Chelsea boss Graham Potter believes new arrival Joao Felix showed signs of promise despite being sent off on his debut for the club.
Less than two days after his arrival on loan was confirmed by the Blues, Potter named Felix in his starting XI for their Premier League visit to Fulham. The Portuguese star looked decent but didn't even last an hour after being shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle in the 58th minute.
Felix's dismissal certainly played a part as 10-man Chelsea conceded a Fulham winner after his dismissal to lose 2-1. However, Potter believes there were encouraging signs from the forward's debut while adding that the player would learn from his errors. He said after the match (as quoted by football.london):
“All of them will be learning moments. Joao is a young player, a top player, you could see the quality he brought to the game. I didn’t see any malice in the challenge at all. It was a little bit high of course but the referee then has a decision to make.”
The former Brighton & Hove Albion manager added:
“He’ll learn from it and like I said, rather than anything fantastic from the opponent it was more our basic actions that we can do better on. That is what we have to improve.”
Not what Potter was hoping for 😔
#cfc
football.london/chelsea-fc/new…
Earlier in the night, former Chelsea winger Willian gave Fulham the lead at Craven Cottage in the 25th minute via a shot that deflected in off Trevoh Chalobah. However, the Blues struck just two minutes after half-time through Kalidou Koulibaly to make it 1-1.
Just 15 minutes after Felix was sent off, Carlos Vinicius headed home from Andreas Pereira's cross to score the game-winner.
How did Joao Felix fare on his Chelsea debut prior to being sent off?
Many fans were surprised to see Graham Potter hand Joao Felix a start against Fulham after minimal time on the training pitch. However, the forward, on loan from Atletico Madrid, showed glimpses of what he could bring to the fore for Chelsea during his 58 minutes on the pitch.
Felix attempted six shots, four of which were on target, while completing two of his three dribbles. He also created one big chance and linked up well on occasion with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount. The Portuguese won four fouls and six of his eight ground duels as well.
1 - Despite being sent off in the 58th minute, João Félix had the most shots (6), shots on target (4), successful take-ons (2) and won the most fouls (4) of any player on either side in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Fulham tonight. Eventful. https://t.co/xxbu170M23
He now looks set to miss Chelsea's next three Premier League matches, but could be a defining factor for them in the final months of the season. The defeat at Fulham left the Blues 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, who host Manchester City this weekend.