17 March 2024 , 14:21
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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took aim at Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher after Raheem Sterling's penalty miss in the FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester City, on a day where the ex-Liverpool and Manchester City man was viciously booed by home supporters.
Cole Palmer has been the Blues’ regular penalty taker this season and boasts a 100 percent record from the spot, scoring all five of his efforts in all competitions this term.
Palmer, Chelsea's player of the season so far and included in the upcoming England squad, was on the field with Chelsea leading the Championship side 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the first half, when Abdul Fatawu clumsily brought down Sterling for the spot kick.
But Sterling took control of the ball, rather than handing it to Palmer, and subsequently took the penalty himself - only for his poor effort to be saved by Leicester ‘keeper Jakub Stolarczyk. Martin Keown, on commentary for the BBC, declared: “There's no quality in that at all. No real purpose, no power, comfortable for the keeper.”
During BBC's half-time analysis, Gary Lineker said it was “strange” that Sterling had taken the spot-kick.
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And ex-Chelsea hitman Hasselbaink asked why Gallagher hadn’t seen fit to step in and take charge of the situation.
He said: “Palmer is the penalty taker. I used to be the penalty taker, at 1-0 I am not giving that up. It doesn’t matter if someone else is asking to take it.
“I think as a team, and as a captain Gallagher should go to Sterling and say ‘no he’s the penalty taker, he’s taken five, scored all five and he needs to take it. It’s 1-0 and we need to secure this match’.”
Raheem Sterling misses from the penalty spot (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Dion Dublin, also on punditry duty, added: “We speak about leaders and players taking charge of the situation on the pitch. The captain has to say ‘Palmer you’re taking it. Sorry Raheem, I'll speak to you at half time’. No questions, deal with the arguments later.”
Sterling would tee up Palmer to score on the stroke of half-time to make it 2-0 before Leicester were given a way into the match through Axel Disasi’s horrendous own goal early in the second period.
Cole Palmer celebrates with teammates Marc Cucurella, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling after their second goal (2024 Getty Images)Stephy Mavidivi curled home a sumptuous effort just after the hour mark to make it 2-2 with his 11th goal of the season. Leicester's left-back Callum Doyle was shown a straight red card with just over 15 minutes remaining after denying a goalscoring opportunity when Nicolas Jackson ran straight through on goal.
Sterling and Palmer both stood over the ball 20 yards out from the ensuing freekick - with Sterling again pulling rank and blazing over the crossbar. His effort was met with boos from a large section of the home support.
Those fans again vented their fury when Mauricio Pochettino withdrew Mykhaylo Mudryk moments later, chanting "you don't know what you're doing" at the Chelsea boss. Other supporters chanted "you're f*****g s***" too.
However, Chelsea booked their place in the final four thanks to injury time goals from two of his subs, Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke.
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