Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino on Monday should have been beaming after his team destroyed Everton 6-0, but rather than celebrating Cole Palmer’s remarkable four-goal display he instead fumed about his players arguing on the pitch.
Chelsea were leading 4-0 after Palmer’s first-half hat-trick and a goal for Nicolas Jackson when they were awarded a penalty after Noni Madueke was tripped in the English Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge in London.
Madueke and Jackson then wrestled each other for the ball as the referee awaited confirmation from the video assistant referee, with regular taker Palmer standing bemused alongside them.
Photo: AFP
Eventually, Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher had to intervene to shove the pair away, grab the ball and give it to Palmer, who duly dispatched it to make it nine out of nine from the penalty spot in the Premier League this season.
“The players know that the taker is Palmer. I am so, so upset about the situation,” Pochettino told reporters. “The image we sent to every single country watching — I want to apologize. You cannot behave like this and to have to talk about it after such an unbelievable game is a shame. Players need to show that they are hungry to score, but not in this type of situation. I won’t accept this again. I promise that.”
Pochettino praised Gallagher for his intervention and left the players involved in no doubt that they are on thin ice.
“Sometimes for young players the personal things are ahead of the team, but they need to know they need to perform for the team and learn quick,” he said. “These are the type of things we take into account for next season. If they don’t learn, then yes, we’ll take some decisions.”
“When you ask me about why we have no consistency or are not performing sometimes it is because of the standards and they need to learn quick because the demand is so high,” he added.
When he did eventually get around to discussing Palmer, the Argentine seemed to feel that the midfielder’s incredible night, and season, was almost to be expected.
“He was a player always with the capacity to score when at Manchester City, but I think the way he has adapted himself is fantastic,” he said as Palmer moved alongside Erling Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring charts on 20. “He is amazing for the team, for him, and he is showing that the club made the right decision in signing him. Overall, I am happy with the performance. We showed a different approach than against Sheffield United, we improved in different areas and today was the perfect game.”
Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw at bottom club Sheffield United on April 7 after conceding a goal in stoppage-time.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS