Cole Palmer has insisted that he is Chelsea’s penalty taker after he was involved in a three-man squabble to take the spot kick against Everton. Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson were both adamant that they wanted to step up from 12 yards, with Conor Gallagher forced to intervene and try and diffuse the bizarre scenes.
Chelsea cruised to a 6-0 victory over Everton on Monday night, though the gloss was taken off of the win in the second-half. With the Blues leading 4-0, Palmer went down under a challenge inside the penalty area, prompting referee Paul Tierney to eventually point to the spot.
However, the scenes that followed left Chelsea fans with their heads in their hands. Both Jackson and Madueke were adamant that they should take the penalty and furiously demanded the opportunity before Gallagher intervened to ensure that Palmer was given the responsibility – having been flawless from the spot so far this season.
The England international made no mistake from 12 yards, though the embarrassing scenes did take the sting out of the crowd. Quizzed on the incident, Palmer played down that there was any brewing anger and bluntly asserted his dominance on penalty responsibilities.
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He told Sky Sports: “Other players wanted to take it, which is understandable, the game’s 4-0 but, you know, I’m the penalty takes and I wanted to take it. In the end, I took it but I think we’re just showing that everyone wants to take responsibility.
“Maybe it was a bit over the top with the arguing and stuff but everyone just wants to win, help, so it was nothing major. (We’ve been) laughing and joking about it. The gaffer has told us now.”
Alfie Gilchrist also spoke about the incident after bagging the first senior goal of his career, sharing the view of the dressing room by saying: “We have all spoke about it and brushed it aside.”
Mauricio Pochettino was left incredibly disappointed by how his stars conducted themselves when the penalty was awarded. The Argentine said: “It’s a shame. It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. I was talking about this to the player 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.”
