Cesc Fabregas speaks out on Chelsea penalty fiasco as he warns arguments over who takes penalties can cause ‘bad vibes’ in the dressing room – and recalls being at the center of a similar row
- Arsenal and Chelsea icon furious over penalty incident between Blues stars
- Chelsea players publicly argued over who would take a penalty on Monday
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Cesc Fabregas claimed penalty chaos, like his Chelsea teammate’s stampede against Everton on Monday, could create a “bad atmosphere” in the dressing room.
Chelsea beat a struggling Toffees side 6-0 as Cole Palmer scored four goals to draw level with Erling Haaland on 20 goals in the race for the Premier League golden boot, but that’s the argument for drawing a penalty which dominated the post-match discussions.
Fabregas, watched the ugly scene unfold between Chelsea players Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson before Palmer took control of the situation and shot at Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea Premier League winner was outraged at the public display of chaos at Stamford Bridge and insisted he “hated” watching the scene unfold.
Fabregas compared his past experience at Euro 2016, when Sergio Ramos took the ball away from him before missing the Croatia game, to the incident between his Chelsea teammates.
Cesc Fabregas claimed penalty chaos, like his Chelsea teammate’s stampede against Everton on Monday, created a “bad atmosphere”.
Chelsea players Nicolas Jackson (right) and Noni Madueke (left) argued over who would take the penalty
Cole Palmer finally took control of the situation before scoring the resulting penalty.
“I had a similar experience during the European Championship in 2016 in Spain against Croatia,” he said on the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast.
“I was about to score the penalty to make it 2-1 for us and there was someone coming from behind who said: ‘I want to take it’.
“I said, ‘No, I’m the penalty taker’. I hate when I see that kind of stuff. I think it creates a really bad vibe. I just gave up and didn’t want to be part something so ugly.
“We ended up missing it, and then we ended up losing the game,” he added.
Ramos’ missed penalty ended up costing Spain top spot in their Euro group as Croatia won 2-1 and had to face Italy in the round of 16 of the competition.
Fabregas recalled a similar situation with Spanish legend Sergio Ramos during the 2016 European Championship
Fabregas was annoyed after Ramos took the ball away from him for a penalty against Croatia
They ended up being knocked out of the competition by Italy at the time and Fabregas clearly still holds a grudge over the incident.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was also disgusted by the bickering between his players, but admitted the team had “evolved” before facing Man City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday at Wembley.
“I said it clearly after the match. We had a meeting with all the players, staff and sports directors,” he said.
“I explained my feelings and delivered a clear message which I conveyed during my press conference and to the media. We are moving forward and I think they understand the situation.
