Alan Shearer was mad and confused after Raheem Sterling prevented Cole Palmer from taking a penalty during Chelsea’s tense FA Cup quarter-final win over Leicester City.
Already 1-0 up thanks to Marc Cucurella’s early goal, Chelsea had the opportunity to increase their lead when Sterling was knocked over in the box midway through the first half.
Palmer, who has not missed a penalty this season, initially went to take the penalty but then passed the ball to Sterling after a brief conversation with his team-mate.
Sterling’s weak attempt was saved by Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk and while Palmer did then add a second goal on the stroke of half-time, the Foxes fought back admirably after the break.
A funny own goal from Axel Disasi gave the Championship joint-leaders hope and Stephy Mavididi’s bending equaliser left Stamford Bridge shocked.
Despite going down to ten men with 20 minutes remaining, Leicester looked set to take Chelsea to extra-time before the hosts secured their place in the semi-finals through late goals from Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke.
Sterling’s penalty miss remained a talking point, however, especially as his second-half substitution was met by ironic cheers and boos as well as a smattering of applause.
‘What on earth was going on there? Seriously, even I was getting upset and I didn’t really care about the game,’ Premier League legend Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘Why on earth is he taking the ball off Cole Palmer? Palmer’s got five out of five [from the penalty spot], he’s the best player at Chelsea, he’s been brilliant all season, he looks confident.
‘Why would you even think about taking it off him? And why would you even offer yourself when you’ve got a record like that?’
Speaking on the podcast, ex-Manchester City defender Micah Richard suggested Sterling was trying to gain some much-needed confidence with a goal from the penalty spot but Shearer responded: ‘Nonsense.
‘It’s the quarter-final of the FA Cup man! Forget about all that stuff, give the penalty to the penalty-taker.’
Arsenal legend Martin Keown also criticized Sterling for ‘pulling rank’ on Cole Palmer but Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was unconcerned by the incident.
‘Cole gave the ball to Raheem, I think they have a very good relationship, it came from, of course, Manchester City, when they were both there,’ he said.
‘When Raheem asked for the ball to take the penalty I think Cole gave [the ball], I’m sure you can see the TV. But that is not a problem, Cole can miss, Raheem can miss, for me their decision is theirs.
‘Of course, I’ll always support the decision of my players on the pitch. That is about to grow, be more mature, I’m always happy we take a decision.’
After edging past Leicester, Chelsea were drawn to face Premier League champions Manchester City in the FA CupManchester United will play against Coventry City, a team from the Championship, in the other semi-final match.
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