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| David Coote shows a red card to Joao Felix of Chelsea (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Chelsea FC at Craven Cottage on January 12, 2023 in London, England. |
Fulham manager Marco Silva hailed “a great night for the club and the fans” as his side beat 10-man Chelsea in a fiery west London derby at Craven Cottage.
Carlos Vinicius headed in a 72nd-minute winner after Portugal winger Joao Felix had been sent off on his Chelsea debut when the score was 1-1.
Willian put the hosts ahead against his former side in the first half, before Kalidou Koulibaly equalised early in the second, but Vinicius’ winner saw Fulham move up to sixth in the Premier League.
“Chelsea is a super team, they are a massive club and their budget is completely different to ours, you can’t compare,” said Silva.
“It was a great night for our fans and they deserved it. For our football club, for our fans it’s special and I definitely felt it at the final whistle – the way they celebrated was a really important moment.
“Our players have been brilliant for the season so far but we know we are just in the middle of the season and as a manager there’s big room to improve.”
Chelsea’s defeat increases the pressure on manager Graham Potter with the Blues now having won only twice in 10 matches in all competitions.
Joao Felix, who only joined Chelsea on Wednesday in a £9.7m loan deal until the end of the season from Atletico Madrid, was shown a straight red card for a horrible lunge on defender Kenny Tete after 58 minutes and will now be suspended for three matches.
