Chelsea's pre-penalty playground squabble dissected by The Athletic
I thought this was amusing
The Athletic has a typically nerd-level-detail bit about Cole Palmer’s wonder goal on Monday
Branthwaite lunges desperately and does get a foot on the ball as Palmer continues his advance towards the Everton area, but the 21-year-old centre-back does not make enough contact to stop Chelsea’s top scorer.
Palmer carries on under pressure from Amadou Onana, while Garner is also now in the frame after sprinting from Chelsea’s half. As both men threaten to make Palmer the meat in an uncomfortable Everton sandwich, the Chelsea man produces an audacious back-heel flick behind Onana towards his team-mate Nicolas Jackson.
…and then they’ve done the same thing for the playground-style squabble over who should take the penalty later on.
Both embarrassing and funny ⚽
… Madueke’s momentum carries him slightly past Gusto, while Jackson’s superior judgement of space and speed enables him to cup the ball in two hands.
It looks for all the world as if Jackson now has control of the situation, but Madueke — who allowed himself to be discouraged from taking the match-winning penalty off Palmer in the closing minutes at home against Manchester United 11 days earlier — knows strength of will, not quality of technique, is the most important factor here