Mauricio Pochettino has apologised for the penalty fiasco that marred Chelsea’s impressive 6-0 win over Everton on Monday night.
Chelsea moved within three points of the European places with a six-goal thrashing of struggling Everton at Stamford Bridge, with Cole Palmer shining to score four goals.
Arguably the best performance of Pochettino’s tenure so far was marred by a second-half incident, however, that saw the Chelsea players arguing over who would take a spot-kick.
Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson sought to wrestle the ball from regular taker Palmer in a heated discussion, with the latter having already hit a first-half hat-trick.
Captain Conor Gallagher was forced to intervene and take Madueke and Jackson away from Palmer, who took the kick and converted his fourth of the game.
The 21-year-old is Chelsea’s regular spot-kick taker and has failed to miss since signing for the Blues from Manchester City last summer, converting nine penalties from nine attempts.
Pochettino criticised the actions of Madueke and Jackson and said his squad must respect the designated taker, apologising to the fans for the situation that unfolded.
“To make it clear, the players and staff know that the taker on penalties is Cole Palmer. All that happened after is a shame.” Pochettino said after the game.
“We were talking in the dressing room about the image we send in every single country and we cannot show this type of image.
“I want to apologise to our fans. The discipline is the most important thing.”
