Mauricio Pochettino FUMES at Chelsea duo for trying to take penalty off Cole Palmer and warns they will be ‘out’ if they do it again as embarrassing on-field row overshadows 6-0 thrashing of Everton
- Chelsea suffered a failure on the pitch after winning a penalty in the defeat to Everton
- Pochettino called the incident ’embarrassing’ and confirmed Cole Palmer is his taker
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Cole Palmer destroyed Everton with a four-goal haul to reignite Chelsea’s push for a European place, but his manager Mauricio Pochettino said the sensational victory was marred by the sight of his players arguing over who should take a penalty.
Everton endured a very embarrassing evening as Palmer scored a perfect hat-trick in sixteen minutes. He later added his fourth from a penalty, but only after a notable row broke out between Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke.
Palmer eventually moved level with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring charts on 20 goals, with Jackson and youth star Alfie Gilchrist also getting on the scoresheet.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino wanted to start his post-match press conference by discussing the penalty shootout rather than the victory itself. He even warned Jackson and Madueke that they risk being suspended if they dare to try this again.
“First of all, I want to tell you that you have to make it clear that they know, the players know, the staff know, the club knows that the penalty taker is Cole Palmer,” Pochettino said, after previously publicly opposing appointing a designated taker. It is a pity.
Mauricio Pochettino called the incident surrounding Chelsea’s penalty against Arsenal ‘unacceptable’
Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson both tried to snatch the ball away from Cole Palmer after the referee pointed to the spot
‘I’m so angry about this situation. We talked in the locker room about the image we send because this is Monday night football and in every country they were watching the game. We cannot send this type of image. It is a shame and I would like to apologize to the football people and our fans because that is unacceptable.”
Palmer added: “Other players wanted to take it, which was understandable. I am the penalty taker and wanted to take it. We’re just trying to show everyone that we want to take responsibility. Maybe it was exaggerated, the argument. We laughed and joked about it.”
This was Everton’s first appearance since a further two-point deduction last week – which was appealed yesterday – and Sean Dyche was furious afterwards.
Conor Gallagher eventually restored order and Palmer maintained his perfect record from 12 yards
Dyche said: “It was a horrible night, without a doubt. We were miles away from the intention and desire to win a match. You have to give strength, make a tackle.
‘They danced around us. Too many mistakes. Too many players are way off. We can’t act like this in a place like this. Six big games.’
Everton defender James Tarkowski added: “The most shame I have felt as an individual. We can only apologize to the fans who supported us. It’s up to the players. It is not the fault of the manager and staff. No apologies on our behalf. We need to refresh ourselves because we have some big weeks coming up. We conceded six goals and you should be ashamed of yourself.’