EPL

Joao Felix to make first Chelsea start in Fulham trip

By Sports Desk January 12, 2023

Joao Felix was thrown straight into the Chelsea starting XI for the Premier League clash at Fulham on Thursday.

The Portugal international sealed a loan move until the end of the season from Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and head coach Graham Potter wasted no time in handing him his first start.

Potter opted for Joao Felix in attack with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount for the match at Craven Cottage, making four changes from the team that was thrashed 4-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup on Sunday.

The former Brighton and Hove Albion boss also brought in Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta and another loan signing in Denis Zakaria, leaving out Bashir Humphreys, Conor Gallagher, Jorginho and Hakim Ziyech.

Chelsea went into the local derby 10th in the Premier League, 10 points off the top four and three behind Fulham, albeit having played a game fewer.

Related items

  • Silva grateful Fulham's dominance was rewarded with late win Silva grateful Fulham's dominance was rewarded with late win

    Marco Silva believes Fulham claimed a "deserved win" against Brentford, though admits they should have secured the three points much earlier in their 2-1 victory.

    It looked like Vitaly Janelt's 24th-minute strike against the run of play was going to wrap up all three points for Brentford, but Harry Wilson proved the Cottagers' hero off the bench, scoring twice in stoppage time to snatch the three points.

    Fulham had dominated from the first whistle and had 26 shots, 12 of which were on target, though they struggled to find a way past their opponents' staunch defence until the 92nd minute.

    Wilson became just the sixth player to score an equalising and match-winning goal from the 90th minute onwards in the Premier League, while his second goal was Fulham's latest-ever Premier League winner at 96:46.

    Silva was delighted with how his team pushed until the final seconds to ensure they came away with a win.

    "It was definitely a deserved win. We started on the front foot and dominated all the game. In the first 20 minutes, we had two clear chances to score," Silva told BBC Sport.

    "After they scored, we didn't lose the confidence and the trust in ourselves, we kept pushing them back, and we created enough to not be losing at half-time.

    "I told the players this is football, it can happen, but we have to keep pushing, working hard and playing our way.

    "It was late, it should've been much before, but that's football."

     

    Brentford, meanwhile, have now dropped a league-high 14 points from winning positions in the Premier League as they suffered a fifth consecutive away defeat in the competition.

    In fact, they are the first side in the competition's history to score the first goal in four consecutive away games and lose all four.

    They had defended resolutely until their late lapse in concentration, and even had a chance to win it, only for Bernd Leno's impressive save to keep out Fabio Carvalho in the 95th minute.

    Thomas Frank, though, admitted he was not yet ready to take the positives from the performance after the disappointment of their late defeat.

    "It was tough. It is emotionally very tough right now," Frank told Sky Sports.

    "When you are leading in the 92nd minute, and you lose, it is tough. I don't think we hit our highest level. I think on the day Fulham were better.

    "There was a lot of good defending and effort, and I thought that would have given us the win. We could have won it with the chance for Fabio Carvalho and then we lost.

    "When we look at the game back, and we are more cool-headed, we will probably be very happy with the defensive standard. I thought there were unbelievable blocks, and recovery runs and all that we did well. On the ball, we didn't do enough."

  • Fulham 2-1 Brentford: Wilson's late brace seals comeback win Fulham 2-1 Brentford: Wilson's late brace seals comeback win

    Harry Wilson scored twice in stoppage time as Fulham came back to beat Brentford 2-1 in an enthralling West London derby.

    Wilson was the hero from Fulham's bench on Monday, as Marco Silva's team – who were on the wrong end of a late comeback against Everton last time out in the Premier League – salvaged a victory from the jaws of defeat.

    Fulham will feel it was a win they earned from a match they dominated from the off, with the Bees having taken the lead against the run of play through Vitaly Janelt's stunning 24th-minute strike.

    But the Fulham pressure finally told when Wilson rose high to flick in his first in the 92nd minute, and – after Bernd Leno made a superb stop to thwart Brentford at the other end – the former Liverpool midfielder nodded in again to send Craven Cottage into raptures.

    Fulham's win takes them up into ninth, while Brentford drop to 12th after suffering a fifth league loss of the season.

    Data Debrief: Super-sub Wilson to the rescue

    Fulham will feel they deserved to come away from that match with three points, having had 26 shots, 12 of which were on target, in an incredibly dominant display.

    They also had 46 touches in the opposition box compared to Brentford's nine, but they could not make those count, at least until Wilson's late intervention as he finally broke through Brentford's stubborn defence. 

    The Welshman scored with both of his shots on target, having three attempts overall, with his goals coming from a combined 0.19 expected goals.

    The Bees looked sure to get a first away win, and first clean sheet, of the Premier League season until their late lapse in concentration, and they have now dropped 14 points from winning positions in the competition this season, more than any other team. 

  • Neymar suffers fresh injury blow Neymar suffers fresh injury blow

    Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.

    Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.

    But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.

    The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.

    Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.

    He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.