In the minds of the optimists occupying the boardroom at Stamford Bridge there will come a point when Chelsea can look back on the night they lost to Fulham for the first time in 17 years and laugh at the time , in which they were newly signed Atlético Madrid went too far in their attempts to prove they could handle the rough and tumble of English football.
But the problem with this theory, which suggests that West London’s third-best club will be rewarded for allowing Graham Potter to guide them through that most awkward of transitions, is that it contradicts current reality. There’s confidence in the process and then there’s the spectacle of Chelsea sitting in 10th place.
That staggers into the crisis area, even if injuries have to be priced in. By the end, Chelsea had slipped six points behind Fulham and while there were encouraging glimmers of encouragement from João Félix before his debut ended with a hasty red card, a side put together at such high cost shouldn’t be looking forward to a seven-loss streak in their last 10 games .
It’s going to be a long way back for Potter. On the plus side, he could at least say some positive things for Chelsea. There were some flashes of old defiance, embodied by Kalidou Koulibaly, who undid another shaky defensive performance by smuggling in an equalizer just after half-time, and there were flashes of enterprising football.
To give credit to Potter, things might have turned out differently had Félix kept calm instead of knocking down Kenny Tete when the game was tied 1-1 after 58 minutes. But Chelsea lost and the 10-man collapsed when Carlos Vinicius headed the winning goal in the 73rd minute. It was another soft concession with both Thiago Silva and Kepa Arrizabalaga to blame and Fulham could be happy to climb up to sixth place.
The glee from Fulham fans, who can’t believe how well Marco Silva’s side have played since promotion, has been hard to stomach. It’s not meant to be for Chelsea, although there’s more at stake with their departure than whether replacing Thomas Tuchel with Potter was the right thing to do. After all, it wasn’t Potter who signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who didn’t even make it off the bench when Chelsea were chasing a late point.
The balance is wrong. Koulibaly was a poor signing, while Marc Cucurella’s later cameo underscored why an 18-year-old, Lewis Hall, was chosen at left-back in place of the £62m Spaniard.
João Félix was sent off early in the second half for that foul on Fulham’s Kenny Tete. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty ImagesChelsea made strange decisions. Koulibaly’s attempts to play from behind were ridiculous and a terrible mistake by Trevoh Chalobah resulted in Bobby Decordova-Reid firing a shot over the bar. As for Fulham’s opener in the 25th minute, it came from Hall, who conceded the ball to Reid in a dangerous position and Chalobah failed to clear his lines. The ball fell to Willian, who dodged César Azpilicueta and saw his shot defeat Arrizabalaga thanks to a deflection from Chalobah.
Willian didn’t celebrate the deepening of his old side’s misery. The sight of the Brazilian at Azpilicueta had brought back memories of better days for Chelsea, although there was at least some hope for the future. Potter’s 3-5-2 system gave the visitors control of midfield in the early stages, there was a welcome assertiveness from Kai Havertz after his dismal performance in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City and there were plenty of nice touches from Félix, who spent most of his time on the pitch, floating around, dancing past defenders and creating chances.
Slender in appearance, Félix was not intimidated by the physical challenge. The Portuguese striker is an expensive loan but he could be an inspired one. Félix was ready despite only having one training session after moving from Atlético. His first effort almost resulted in a goal for Hall and it was always dangerous when he got the ball.
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The only disappointment is that Félix, who has been close on goal on several occasions, will be suspended for three games. His release was the turning point. Chelsea had just equalized Willian’s goal. Hall had won a free-kick down the left, Mount nearly caught Leno at his near post and Koulibaly forced the ball over the line.
At that point, the momentum was at Chelsea. Fulham, who had needed Leno to deny Hall, were nervous. But nothing beats Chelsea. Their injury list grew when Denis Zakaria, who was playing well in midfield, limped off the pitch. Félix’s mindless lunge soon followed.
With the exception of 10 men, Chelsea tried to stand their ground and threatened when Havertz extended Leno. However, with 17 minutes to go Andreas Pereira’s cross flew over Silva and Arrizabalaga’s poor positioning was punished by Vinicius. The toughest job in football, as Potter had put it, had gotten even tougher.