Joao Felix sent off on Chelsea debut in 2-1 loss to Fulham

LONDON: Joao Felix was sent off on his Chelsea debut for a studs-first lunge as his new team lost 2-1 at Fulham in the Premier League to fall deeper into crisis on Thursday.

The Portugal forward looked disconsolate after being shown a straight red card in the 58th minute for his dangerous challenge on Kenny Tete that caught the Fulham right back just below his right knee.

Felix, who joined on loan from Atletico Madrid for the rest of the season on Wednesday, was having an impressive game until his sending-off, making surging runs, delivering incisive passes and showing some neat tricks and flicks.

He won’t be able to showcase them again until Feb. 11 as he will now miss league games against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Fulham. With Felix having joined on a deal costing Chelsea a reported $790,000 a week taking in wages and the loan fee, it is a costly error for both the club and for under-pressure manager Graham Potter.

“It was a forward’s tackle — there was no malice in it but I understand why it was a red,” Potter said. “It is another blow. The hits keep coming at the moment, that’s how it is. He (Felix) was really good, you could see his quality in the game, so it is doubly disappointing for us.”

Chelsea slipped to a sixth loss in their last eight matches in all competitions — their worst run of results in nearly 30 years — thanks to a 73rd-minute winner from Carlos Vinicius, who met a cross from Andreas Pereira with an unchallenged header at the far post as goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga hesitated to come out for the ball.

The Brazilian striker was only playing because first-choice center forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham’s top scorer, was suspended.

“Guys are stepping up — we are not a one-trick pony,” said