Fulham 2 v Chelsea 1
Willian 25’ K. Koulibaly 47’
C. Vincius 73’
Red Card: J. Felix 58’
Referee: David Coote
Played Thursday 12th January, 2023. Craven Cottage.
‘Empires rise and empires fall’, once wrote the old sage and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. And for now, at least, it looks like Chelsea FC’s empire is on the wane. Following their 4-0 drubbing by Manchester City in last Sunday’s FA Cup tie, Thursday’s London derby against a resurgent Fulham FC looked a tricky task.
Chelsea started sprightly, but it was former Blues’ player Willian who scored first with a deflected goal for Fulham on the 25th minute. Two minutes after half-time Kalidou Koulibaly equalized for the visitors with a tap in from a Mason Mount free kick. All looked set for a Chelsea comeback, but on the 57th minute new signing Joao Felix was red carded on debut, for a dangerous studs first challenge. Come the 73rd minute Fulham sealed the rarest of victories against their closest rivals with a soaring header from Carlos Vincius.
The Cottagers now climb to an authoritative 6th place in the Premier League table with Chelsea languishing in 10th. A position neither baffled new owners nor increasingly irate fans will tolerate for long. Blues’ manager Graham Potter, who has recently described his job as ‘probably the hardest job in football’, must be wondering how and when his head will roll. In the meantime, both Potter and his players will be praying for some divine intervention from the great, late, Chelsea player-manager Gianluca Vialli, who sadly passed away on the 6th of January. Vialli was seen as a glittering icon of nineties football, whose talents and verve knew no bounds. His was a truly stellar career, winning multiple cups at Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea. At Stamford Bridge he secured five trophies in less than three years, including the 1998 European Cup Winners’ Cup. A remarkable record. In remembrance Alan Shearer simply tweeted ‘What a lovely, lovely man and a wonderful player he was.’ He will be very keenly missed.
Our next PLD will be on Sunday 15th January when Tottenham take on Arsenal at home. In the last six seasons this infamous grudge match has seen Spurs win five times on home turf, with one draw in the 2018-19 tournament. The Gunners, however, are now top of the table, and will be itching to breach the White Hart Lane fortress. We could be in for a thriller.
Until next time, stay safe and enjoy your football, Matthew at PLDs.