Leading 4-0 at home at half-time against a demoralized Everton, Monday appeared to be a rare night where Chelsea’s maturity and discipline were shielded from scrutiny.
What happened instead, when referee Paul Tierney awarded the home side a penalty in the 64th minute, was a reminder to never underestimate the ability of this Chelsea team to snatch victory. he public embarrassment to the jaws of unqualified success, as Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson signed the team on. -his companion Cole Palmer in a three-way physical fight for the right to take it.
Allow Athleticism to take you through in a light-hearted way the stupidest sequence of events seen in the Premier League this season… so far.
Slot
Malo Gusto holds the ball with the disinterested air of a pizza delivery man who is nearing the end of his shift and who is blissfully unaware of the drama that is about to unfold.
What happens next would make a lot more sense if it was clutching a large, hot pepperoni; Madueke and Jackson both rush desperately towards him, arms outstretched. Madueke’s stride is shorter than Jackson’s, allowing him to accelerate and reach the ball first, but at a cost…
The input
… Madueke’s momentum carries him slightly past Gusto, while Jackson’s superior judgment of space and speed allows him to grab the ball with both hands.
It appears Jackson is now in control of the situation, but Madueke – who was left undeterred by scoring Palmer’s winning penalty in the final minutes at home to Manchester United 11 days earlier – knows the strength of will , and not the quality of the technique, is the most important factor here.
The block
Perhaps made a little complacent by his first successes, Jackson made a capital mistake: he allowed Madueke to stand in front of him and use his body to block the attacker’s access to the ball.
This is a classic winger move, although the great Eden Hazard would probably advocate more aggressive use of Madueke’s butt to keep Jackson at bay here. Nevertheless, it works, and Jackson drops the ball.
Debate
Jackson, now at a physical disadvantage, resorts to a verbal attempt to assert his rights. Madueke punctuates her rebuttal by pointing to her own chest, presumably insisting that he takes the ball for himself and not for another guy called Noni Madueke.
Also note the poetic framing in the photo above of the supporters’ banner paying tribute to Chelsea’s greatest captain, John Terry, a man who would have represented precisely none of this nonsense.
Walking and talking
Madueke heads back towards the penalty spot – showing impressive natural technique to protect the ball on his stronger left side – and Jackson follows, the two becoming increasingly animated.
Emotions reach a point at which outside intervention is necessary, ideally from someone old enough to be the father of either party involved.
The elder statesman
Right on cue, Thiago Silva arrives on the scene to try to knock some sense into his wayward teammates.
“It’s time for a change,” his eyes seem to say, as he holds Madueke and Jackson in a loose but firm group. His body language, however, suggests that he’s talking to Jackson more about the two, which could inadvertently boost Madueke’s confidence that he’ll ultimately succeed here.
The duck and run
Silva, Gusto and Madueke appear to have cut off all of Jackson’s escape routes as they surround him, trying to soften the devastating emotional blow of not being allowed a free shot to potentially put Chelsea five ahead.
But he has an old trick up his sleeve: Bending over as if to fix his shoelaces, he backs up, turns and walks away, simultaneously signaling both disdain and abandonment.
Silva and Gusto now leave Madueke alone with the ball in the Everton penalty area, paving the way for the climax of this tragicomedy.
The legitimate heir
Palmer, finally back on his feet after being fouled from the penalty spot, now approaches Madueke with Chelsea captain on the pitch, Conor Gallagher. He is firm and forceful without ever seeming fazed, while Gallagher’s facial expression conveys more weariness than anger.
Having the ball under his left arm allows Madueke to push Palmer away with his right, but his most impressive technical feat is yet to come…
The old switcheroo
Slowly backing up, Madueke waits for Palmer to catch the ball in his left hand before moving it to his right with the kind of casual behind-the-back dribbling motion that would make any NBA point guard proud. This, however, gives Gallagher the opportunity to intervene…
The Captain’s Vote
Realizing the time for words is over, Gallagher simply places his hands on the ball. He is able to do this with minimal resistance as Madueke is momentarily distracted by something off-camera. Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
The desperate race
No, it’s the Senegalese Neymar!
It turns out that Jackson simply lulled his teammates into a false sense of security by walking away, and now he tries his luck once again with a late run into the penalty area. The only thing keeping the situation from reaching WWE levels of farce is the fact that Jackson was unable to procure a folding chair before making his sudden return.
The thrust
Jackson’s charge is the tipping point for Palmer to finally lose patience and, as he takes the ball in his right hand, Chelsea’s designated penalty taker pushes the attacker away with his left. Madueke, remarkably, stays in the fray and still seems to think he can force his way through to take the penalty.
One thing that is never questioned here is the boy’s self-confidence.
The end of the game
Now in nightclub bouncer mode, Gallagher stands in front of Palmer and acts as a physical barrier for two of his own teammates, pushing back Jackson and Madueke.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford moved away from his goal line hoping to disrupt Palmer’s mental preparations, only to find his English colleague’s Chelsea comrades making a good attempt to do so for him.
Palmer still scored the penalty, despite all the shenanigans from his teammate and Pickford trying to make a ball placement problem on the spot.
Television footage of the celebrations showed Madueke having to persuade Jackson to go congratulate Chelsea’s top scorer this season with the rest of the team, while head coach Mauricio Pochettino watched it all from the touchline.
“Other players wanted to win, which is understandable because it’s 4-0,” Palmer later told Sky Sports, the British broadcaster of the match. “But I’m the one who takes the penalty and I wanted to take it, so in the end I took it.
“We are trying to show that everyone wants to take responsibility. Maybe it was a little over the top with the argument and all that, but everyone wants to help. It was nothing serious, we laughed and joked about it. The boss (Pochettino) has told us now.
Pochettino was less forgiving in his own post-match comments.
“The players know… the club knows that Palmer is the penalty taker,” he said. “I am so upset about the situation. In all countries, people are watching the match and we cannot send this kind of image.
“I want to apologize to our fans. Discipline is the most important thing for the team. It’s a team sport. I will not accept this type of behavior. I will be very strong. I promise this won’t happen again. You can’t behave like children. It’s a shame, it’s unacceptable. We don’t deserve to talk about this.
Pochettino’s anger downplayed the comic value of the incident, but it was an appropriate reaction; Penalty debates like this don’t happen in a serious team, which Chelsea aspire to become again as soon as possible.
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened at Stamford Bridge this season, but it should be the last.
GO FURTHER
Cole Palmer vs Everton: Shades of Eden Hazard and a contender for goal of the season
(Top photo: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)