Why Potter snubbed Aubameyang during 2-1 defeat to Fulham

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has opened up on why he snubbed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League on Thursday night.

According to Potter, it was a tactical decision to keep Kai Havertz on the pitch rather than bring on Aubameyang.

The match saw former Chelsea winger, Willian put Fulham in lead in the first half, before defender Kalidou Koulibaly scored an equaliser in the second half.

Chelsea were then reduced to 10 men when Joao Felix who made his debut during the match was sent off for his reckless challenge on Kenny Tete.

Fulham won all three points thanks to a goal in the 75th minute through Carlos Vinicius.

Potter made four changes with 11 minutes remaining but left Aubameyang on the bench.

After the game, he was asked why he opted not to bring in the Gabon star to help Chelsea push for an equaliser, and Potter said, “We had a back five and felt we should go to a 4-4-1 and keep Kai on because I felt he was leading the line and winning challenges and duels.

“We wanted to use Hakim [Ziyech] and Carney [Chukwuemeka] to break from wide and Conor [Gallagher] to break from the centre because you know you’re going to get driven back a bit. So that was the thinking.”