Izuchukwu OkosiFulham beat 10-man London rivals Chelsea 2-1 on Thursday night at the Craven Cottage to move to 6th place in the Premier League table.
Fulham paraded Tosin Adarabioyo for 90 minutes of the game while Chelsea introduced Anglo-Nigerian midfield talent, Carney Chukwuemeka.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe game was the first for Fulham’s Brazilian forward, Willian against his former club while Chelsea manager, Graham Potter handed a debut to Atletico Madrid star, Joao Felix who is at the West London club on loan until the end of the season.
In the 23rd minute, De Cordova-Reid’s powerful strike came off the bar after he was played in by Vinicius from the edge of the box. The ball bounced clear to safety
Two minutes after that effort, former Chelsea forward, Willian, put the home side ahead when the ball deflected off the body of Chelsea defender, Trevor Chalobah, from his shot and into the bottom right corner.
Willian became the 26th player to score against Chelsea in the Premier League after previously playing for them in the competition; Chelsea have now had the most such players score against them of any side in the competition.
The Brazilian refused to celebrate wildly as a mark of respect to his former club.
READ ALSO: Chelsea Set To Sign Atletico Madrid Star, Joao Felix, On €11 Million Loan Deal
Kalidou Koulibaly equalised for Chelsea in the 47th minute when he poked the ball home from the six-yard box after Mason Mount delivered a perfect free kick.
Felix was issued a straight red card for a bad tackle on Tete, in the 58th minute, moments after David Zakaria went off injured.
The Portugal international will now miss the Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Fulham.
Fulham restored their lead in the 73rd minute when Vinicious, playing in the absence of Alexandre Mitrovic, headed in the ball at the near post beat Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Potter made a quartet of changes with 11 minutes left on the clock which included Nigeria-eligible midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka.
The young English talent of Nigerian descent created a goal-scoring chance moments after his introduction into the game.
The defeat means Chelsea, have only won once in nine Premier League games and are currently 10th in the table with 25 points.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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