London, January 13 (BNA): Joao Felix was sent off on his Chelsea debut for a first lunge as his new club lost 2-1 at Fulham in the Premier League to plunge deeper into crisis on Thursday.
The Portuguese striker looked miserable after being shown a straight red card in the 58th minute for a dangerous challenge on Kenny Tete, who hit the Fulham right-back below his right knee.
Felix, who joined on loan from Atletico Madrid for the rest of the season on Wednesday, was having a great game until his red card, making powerful shots, providing assists and showing off some fantastic tricks and flicks.
He won’t be able to feature it again until February 11th as he will now miss league matches against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Fulham. With Felix joining a deal reportedly costing Chelsea $790,000 a week in wages and loan fees, it is a costly mistake for both the club and under pressure from Graham Potter, reports the Associated Press.
Chelsea slipped to a sixth loss in their last eight matches in all competitions – their worst run of results in nearly 30 years – thanks to a 73rd-minute winner from Carlos Vinicius, who met an Andreas Pereira cross with an uncontested header in the net. After goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga hesitated to go out for the ball.
Fulham climbed above Liverpool into sixth place to continue an impressive first season in the top flight. It was a fourth successive First Division victory, something the south west London club had not achieved since 1966.
Chelsea stayed in 10th place, 19 points behind leaders Arsenal, after playing one more match.
A top-four finish to qualify for the Champions League is looking more and more unlikely for Chelsea, whose extensive injury list now includes Denis Zakaria after their midfielder suffered a problem midway through the second half.
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