Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Fulham on Thursday added insult to injury when Joao Felix was dismissed on his team's debut.
Willian scored the game's first goal for Fulham against his old team in the 25th minute. From within the area, he fired a shot that was deflected beyond the goalie.
On the 35th minute, Chelsea had a great opportunity to tie the score. Lewis Hall created a shooting space for himself and unleashed a mid-range rocket at the left side of the goal. Unfortunately for him, Bernd Leno made a spectacular save to thwart the attempt.
Joao Felix pounced on an errant ball inside the box on the 40th minute and unleashed a powerful shot low toward the center of the goal. Bernd Leno, though, saw the shot coming and made a simple save.
Two minutes after the break, Chelsea made the score even. Kalidou Koulibaly pounced on the rebound inside the box at the perfect moment and happily rifled the ball low inside the left post.
Felix was dismissed in the 58th minute. The referee had no option but to give him a deserving red card after he took out his opponent after losing control.
On the 73rd minute, the home runs made it 2-1. Andreas Pereira displayed excellent technique by creating a stunning lofted cross into the box. With a header towards the heart of the goal, Carlos Vinicius met the cross and added to the score.
After yet another bad performance for the team, former Chelsea player Joe Cole has encouraged supporters to support manager Graham Potter.
Cole believes it is crucial that Chelsea supporters exhibited patience with the new manager despite the pessimism that surrounds the team.
“He requires time. Today, we saw a tinge of annoyance among the followers; they must simply comprehend that there have been several changes”.
“I think Chelsea has given us enough little flames tonight. There is enough evidence to be optimistic about the outcome”.
"Over the past 20 years, the club had been so steady in its own special way. But then you come in and you change things behind the scenes, altering recruiting when you have new owners, and I believe Graham Potter has acquitted himself extremely well”.
What more can you do but keep doing what you're doing and trusting in the guys because he's honest?
Potter's tenure as manager got off to a good start as he followed a draw in his first match with five straight victories, but after a 4-1 loss against his previous team Brighton in October, things have been worse.
Cole also said that the club's lengthy injury list, which includes players like Raheem Sterling, N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, and Reece James, has not been kind to Potter.
"That top team has a long list of injured players."
“A club that would easily place in the top six of the Premier League is completely wounded for him. Consequently, you must continue. The supporters ought to stand with him and the players. Tomorrow morning, there is a huge possibility for the characters, the Mason Mounts, the Thiago Silvas, the Jorginhos, and the Kantes, to enter the game”.
"They have a challenging match at the weekend against a tough, spirited team in Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. With everyone in there, you almost want a siege attitude."
“We've already seen enough of Chelsea's sporadic flare-ups, in my opinion. There is reason to believe that the outcomes will change”.
“This challenging time will have improved the manager and the team. They have to continue”.
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