Chelsea: Trevoh Chalobah produced his “worst performance” vs Fulham

3 minute read 13/1/2023 | 06:20am

Chelsea‘s sorry run of form continued on Thursday evening having suffered a 2-1 defeat to west London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage, with that dismal loss ensuring that the Blues have now won just one of their last nine Premier League games.

On a night in which little went right for the under-pressure, Graham Potter, the visitors were undone midway through the first half by a familiar face, as former Stamford Bridge gem Willian fired in for his second top-flight goal of the season.

The away side did eventually draw themselves level just after the interval as summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly turned home in scrappy fashion, with the struggling outfit having made the perfect response after a limp first-half display.

Any real hopes of going on to secure a much-needed victory were then dashed, however, as recent arrival, Joao Felix spoiled what had been an otherwise “lively” debut, as per CBS reporter Ben Jacobs, after seeing red for a horror challenge on Kenny Tete.

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That dismissal ultimately proved costly as former Tottenham Hotspur loanee Carlos Vinicius then nodded home at the back post with just over 15 minutes left to play, ensuring that the Blues are now languishing in mid-table and ten points off fourth spot.

For all the blame that may well be attributed to the aforementioned Felix, the main villain for Potter on the night was seemingly that of Trevoh Chalobah, with the academy graduate having produced arguably his “worst performance in a Chelsea shirt to date“, as per sports writer Gabe Henderson.

Was Chalobah the main villain against Fulham?

That defensive “horror show” – in the words of journalist Joe Krishnan – saw the young Englishman play his part in both of the Cottagers’ goals, having somewhat inadvertently deflected Willian’s effort beyond teammate, Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The 23-year-old was then culpable for what proved to be the game’s winning goal having simply gone to sleep at the back post as Vinicius headed in, with the centre-back offering little in the way of a challenge to try and disrupt the leaping Brazilian.

Those two moments encapsulated what was a frankly dismal outing for the £50k-per-week man, in truth, having simply been unable to do “anything right”, as per The Athletic’s Liam Twomey, following what was a “nightmare” first half for the backline.

The statistics are also rather damning as far as Chalobah is concerned as the 6 foot 4 brute won just two of his seven total duels, while also proving a liability in possession after squandering the ball on 12 occasions from his 58 touches.

That grim showing ensured that the former Lorient loanee was hooked in the closing stages, having recorded a match rating of just 6.3, as per Sofascore – the worst of any player for his side.

On a night in which Potter no doubt needed his side to step up and get back to winning ways, the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss was simply let down by Chalobah and his teammates.