furious Mauricio Pochettino reacts to Chelsea stars fight over who would take a penalty
Mauricio Pochettino was furious after watching some of his Chelsea players argue over who would take a penalty during the 6-0 demolition of Everton.
Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke were grappling over the ball after Chelsea, already leading 4-0, were awarded a penalty in the second half.
Blues captain Conor Gallagher eventually intervened, taking the ball off the Chelsea forwards and handing it to hat-trick hero Palmer.
Even then Palmer had to push Jackson away before composing himself and tucking a penalty past Jordan Pickford to extend Chelsea’s lead.
Asked about the incident, an angry Pochettino said: ‘It’s a shame, it’s a shame. It’s a shame because we cannot behave in this way.
‘I told them it’s the last time I accept this type of behaviour. If we want to be a team and win things we need to think in the collective way.
‘I made that clear to them. Cole Palmer is our taker, if he wants to give the penalty to someone else he can but not in this way. It is a sad situation and I don’t want it to happen again.
‘It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. But it’s the last time I want to see something like this. I want to apologise to the fans.’
Despite the unsavoury penalty scenes, Chelsea’s evening got even better when academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist scored his first goal for the club late on.
Chelsea led 4-0 at the interval thanks to Palmer’s brilliant, perfect hat-trick inside the first 30 minutes and Jackson’s goal on the stroke of half-time.
Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher described the penalty drama as ‘daft’ and said it partly overshadowed a fine Chelsea performance.
‘What happened in the second half was just ridiculous. It’s daft,’ he said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. ‘It’s your best result of the season and you start doing this…’
Palmer, meanwhile, admits the on-pitch argument was ‘over the top’ but insists his team-mates were ‘laughing and joking’ about it after the match.
‘I think we are showing everyone is wanting to take responsibility it may be a bit over the top, but everyone wants to win – we are laughing and joking about it.’
Chelsea are just three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle United after batting Everton while Sean Dyche’s side stay 16th, two points above the relegation zone.
