Nicolas Jackson had good reason for his desire to take the Chelsea penalty, which caused a row among the Blues teammates on Monday.
Three Chelsea players were involved in a physical confrontation before the home side’s fifth goal against Everton at Stamford Bridge, involving Noni Madueke and Jackson before the match was broken up by Conor Gallagher and Malo Gusto.
Cole Palmer took control of the ball to score his fourth of the match, and it was then clear why Jackson was desperate for the chance to score his second.
Jackson scored his tenth Premier League goal of the season and Chelsea’s fourth on Monday, taking his tally to thirteen in all competitions.
It means he has equaled Chelsea icon Didier Drogba’s tally of league goals in his first season at the club – and just three behind the Ivory Coast star’s total of 16 in all competitions.
There was an argument between Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke before a Chelsea penalty
Madueke (left) collected the ball from Malo Gusto (centre), before Jackson (right) got involved
Conor Gallagher (left) begged his teammates to leave the ball to Palmer, the designated penalty taker who eventually took the penalty and converted
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Jackson has set an ambition to score 15 goals in the league and 20 in all competitions for the Blues before the end of the season next month.
However, his plans to get another on Monday night were halted when he was replaced by Deivid Washington before the final whistle.
Mauricio Pochettino has publicly made it clear that Palmer is Chelsea’s designated penalty taker, while Madueke has scored two penalties this season when Palmer was not on the pitch.
Jackson has not taken any penalties so far this season and is not expected to risk his place in the team or his relationship with the Blues’ faithful by insisting on taking one.
The argument caused more problems for Chelsea after the final whistle, despite the 6-0 scoreline.
Pochettino was visibly outraged by the bizarre confrontation during his post-match press conference, objecting to being questioned about the row.
At his press conference, the manager said: ‘First of all I want to tell you that you have to make it clear that they know, the players know, the staff knows, the club knows, that Cole Palmer is the penalty taker.
‘It is a pity. I’m so angry about this situation. We talk 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 these types of images. It is a shame and I would like to apologize to the football people and our fans because that is unacceptable.”
Scoring against Everton means Jackson equaled Didier Drogba for league goals in debut season
Pochettino’s mood after the match did not resemble that of a manager whose side had won 6-0
Guest Sky pundit Dele Alli said the feuding players were ‘showing their age’ in the queue
He went on to say that both Madueke and Jackson are said to be ‘out’ if they were to act similarly in the future.
Dele Alli, guest pundit on Sky’s Monday Night Football, said the feuding players were “showing their age” during the row.
Pochettino was well as in the middle of a row between Chelsea’s former stadium announcer and the club’s press officer, who was accused of ‘*** managing a press conference’.