Unseen footage of Chelsea players arguing over who should take the penalty reveals exactly what happened.
Chelsea were 4-0 ahead against Everton when they were awarded a penalty after Abdoulaye Doucoure fouled Cole Palmer inside the area.
Palmer had already netted a first-half hat-trick as Chelsea dismantled Everton 6-0, and as the west Londoners’ regular penalty taker this term, was expected to take the spot-kick.
New Sky Sports footage has revealed that while Palmer was on the deck, winger Noni Madueke snatched the ball out of Malo Gusto’s hand, ahead of striker Nicolas Jackson.
As Madueke walked to the penalty spot, ball tucked under his arm, he and Jackson continued to fervently argue over who should take the penalty.
The experienced Thiago Silva then came over to diffuse tensions, putting his arms around the pair and sharing his two cents.
At this point, with Jackson retreating, Madueke looked set to win the argument only for Palmer, who had scored eight out of eight penalties that season, to intervene and take the ball from his team-mate.
Chelsea skipper Conor Gallagher also backed up Palmer’s claim, while Jackson then returned to the group to make a final desperate plea.
As Palmer set the ball down, there was pushing and shoving between Madueke, Jackson and Gallagher. But Palmer eventually took and dispatched the spot-kick.
In his post-match interviews, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino apologised to fans for his players’ behaviour.
He said: “It is a shame. We cannot behave in this way, I told them ‘this is the last time of this behaviour’.
“It is impossible to have this type of behaviour after this performance. If we want to be a great team, we need to change and think in a collective way.
I’m sorry but I just can’t get over it, literal children 😠pic.twitter.com/7uh6L1dTuh
— Becky (@_beckyy2) April 15, 2024
“It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. I was talking about this to the players after the game. It’s the last time I want to see something like this. I want to apologise to the fans.
“We need to make clear next time that happens. They need to learn and be professional. We need to be focused on the collective. They knew it was Cole. Cole is the taker. It’s a clear example that it’s a process we still need to learn.”
When asked if Madueke and Jackson would be punished and if they apologised, Pochettino added: “No [there will be no punishment]. It’s about learning. They are young guys.
“Remember Burnley? No one wanted to take and he [Palmer] showed the personality… The discipline is going to be more strong. If they behave like a kid? Here it’s impossible. It’s a shame and unacceptable thing.
“I think we all agreed this behaviour cannot happen again and they were wrong… We are like in a school now to show they were wrong and they need to learn. If they don’t learn after we will take some decisions. Now it’s about to learn and use this type of experience to move on and be better.”
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