The pressure on Chelsea and Graham Potter keeps building as the Blues lose yet another game, now against the West London rivals Fulham 2-1.
With the new signing Joao Felix getting the chance to start right after being announced as a Chelsea player a day before, he started the game very brightly and was heavily involved in the attacking play with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz. But ex-Chelsea man Willian came to haunt the visitors as he gave the home side the lead via a deflected effort.
However, early on in the second half Kalidou Koulibaly got CFC back level after Mount struck the post from a free-kick. But less than ten minutes after that Chelsea was forced to take off Denis Zakaria due to another injury and to make the matters worse, Joao Felix got himself sent off.
After this horrendous phase, Chelsea controlled the ball well even with ten men. Although some more bad defending from the Blues and questionable decision making from Kepa Arrizabalaga lead to the Cottagers taking the lead, now through Vinicius in the 73rd minute. After that, half chances were as good as it got for Potter’s men as another defeat means that European spots now seem a far fetched wish.
Here’s how each player fared in another horrendous performance against Fulham:
1. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Goalkeeper): 5/10
The Spaniard couldn’t really be blamed much for the first goal as the effort was deflected away from him but the second goal was probably down to him not making up his mind whether to collect the ball or stay back but in the end found himself in no mans land.
2. Kalidou Koulibaly (Centerback): 5/10
The Senegalese international did score the scrappy goal to get Chelsea level but his performance was again filled with bad passes and giving the ball away in dangerous positions, bringing unnecessary pressure on the backline. It just doesn’t look like Koulibaly will come good at CFC.
3. Thiago Silva (Centerback): 6/10
The veteran was again one of the better defenders in the backline and did well in intercepting balls and breaking down Fulham’s game but his one error of not properly keeping an eye out for Vinicius lead to the goal which confirmed another defeat for the Blues. Yet it was more of Chalobah’s fault rather than Silva’s.
4. Trevoh Chalobah (Centerback): 3/10
By far the worst performance from Chalobah ever in a Chelsea shirt. Throughout the game, Trevoh Chalobah put the Chelsea defense in pressure due to his horrendous passes one of which resulted in Fulham striking the bar early on. Then for the first goal it was him through which the ball went inside after being deflected and for the second goal his lack of man marking left Vinicius free to head home the winner.
5. Lewis Hall (Left Wingback): 6/10
Lewis Hall making his second Premier League start was the best defender out there for the Blues and came close multiple of times to scoring, only to be saved by Leno. Very heavily involved in the attacking half, defending wise too it can be said that the youngster looked better than the likes of Koulibaly. Lewis Hall got substituted for Marc Cucurella in the 79th minute.
6. Denis Zakaria (Centra Midfielder): 6/10
Denis Zakaria seems to be a vital piece to the way Chelsea plays as he brings in some much needed physicality in the midfield which Chelsea lack very much. But just when it seemed that things can workout, Zakaria was forced off due to an injury, about which we will know more in the next few days. Zakaria was replaced by Jorginho in the 56th minute.
7. Mateo Kovacic (Centra Midfielder): 6/10
The Croatian midfielder did have a decent overall game but sometimes lacked that good forward pass by not spotting the run of attackers. But was more than involved in the attacking play with a couple of shot attempts on goal.
8. Cesar Azpilicueta (Right Wingback): 6/10
The club captain who is now approaching 500 appearances, started as a right wingback and was up against his ex teammate Willian. His fast dribbling was sometimes of an issue for the captain but did well to deal with it. Attacking wise, Azpilicueta couldn’t really do much good.
9. Mason Mount (Right Winger): 5/10
Mason Mount throughout the game cut a frustrated figure despite him being involved in Chelsea’s equalizer. In the first half, the England international had very fluid one touch passing with the likes of Felix and Havertz but after conceding the first goal, Mount kept getting frustrated and by the end was replaced by Hakim Ziyech in the 79th minute.
10. Kai Havertz (Striker): 7/10
The German international did relatively well as the focal point of the team in terms of holding up the ball and winning fouls up front. Havertz had a total of three attempts on goal out of which two were saved by Leno. Throughout the game it was a very positive display for the German but regular individual errors are the main reason for Chelsea losing so many game despite some players improving.
11. Joao Felix (Left Winger): 5/10
It was a great debut for the Portuguese international till the time he got sent off stupidly which now means that he is not available for the next three games bring the situation of Chelsea not having new attackers back to square one. But seeing his performance in terms of long term, there is a lot of things to look forward too as Joao Felix brought in some much needed flair to the Chelsea attacking line which has been lacking for a while.
12. Jorginho (Centra Midfielder): 5/10
Jorginho came on for the injured Denis Zakaria in the 56th minute and couldn’t really do much where it matters, change the game when it matters the most. Passing side to side constitutes about 95% of his game which is something not needed by the Blues.
13. Marc Cucurella (Left Wingback): 5/10
Marc Cucurella came on for Lewis Hall in the 79th minute and was involved in the attacking half when the Blues went all out in the hope of finding an equalizer, but couldn’t really put in some good crosses to pressure the Fulham defence.
14. Carney Chukwuemeka (Central Midfielder): 5/10
Carney Chukwuemeka came on for Trevoh Chalobah in the 79th minute and had a couple of chances to put Kai Havertz through on goal but lacked that precise final pass but looked better again and with the injury to Zakaria now, it seems Chukwuemeka might finally get a few games to start.
15. Conor Gallagher (Right Winger): 5/10
Conor Gallagher came on for Mateo Kovacic in the 79th minute and brought in energy but the energy couldn’t really convert much in terms of attacking play for CFC as his few attempts of playing forward passes failed.
16. Hakim Ziyech (Right Winger): 4/10
Hakim Ziyech came on for Mason Mount in the 79th minute and was barely involved in the final third for the Blues despite being on the pitch for more than 15 minutes.