Hasselbaink singles out struggling Chelsea star for role in Middlesbrough loss

10 January 2024 , 09:16

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Hasselbaink singles out struggling Chelsea star for role in Middlesbrough loss

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has slammed Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo for his role in Middlesbrough's winning goal in the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg.

Hayden Hackney's 37th minute strike handed Boro a one-goal lead heading into the second-leg at Stamford Bridge on January 23. It was a disappointing performance from Mauricio Pochettino's side, though the Blues were left to rue missing some golden opportunities, with Cole Palmer squandering the best of them.

However, in the aftermath of the defeat, Hasselbaink pointed the blame at Caicedo for not staying tight to Hackney in the build up to the only goal of the match. The Ecuadorian allowed his opponent to drift into the box and when the ball was fired across the six-yard area, Hackney was there to tap home unmarked.

Caicedo appeared to stop and not follow his runner, giving Hackney an easier task to prod the ball beyond Djordje Petrovic in the Chelsea net. Hasselbaink was far from impressed with Caicedo, piling the woes on the £115million midfielder following his disappointing start to life at Stamford Bridge.

"With Caicedo... It becomes a one-versus-one," Hasselbaink told Sky Sports. "If you have determination, you don't lose your one-versus-one. It's a simple one. You just keep running with your man, you stay with him, and at the last moment you give him a little nudge so he cannot put that ball in. He stopped!"

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Chelsea have two weeks to dwell on the result before going again against their Championship counterparts in west London. Although it was a ninth defeat of the campaign, Pochettino was not downbeat about the performance from his side throughout the game.

Moises Caicedo has been criticised after Chelsea's defeat against Middlesbrough (Getty Images)

"I think today the approach was good, we cannot say anything about the attitude," the Argentine told Sky Sports. "Only that we made some mistakes in the first half, I think we gave the chances to score and then, yes, they were so aggressive and really tough. They played in transition, in counter-attack, and with a really deep block. It was difficult for us to break down this block.

"We had many chances to score and didn’t score, that is football, of course. Really disappointed, but it is the first half of the tie because after this 90 minutes we have another 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge. I think we need to be positive."

Kieran King