Gary Neville was left very critical of one Chelsea player after they fell behind tonight to Crystal Palace.
He claimed during his coverage of the game for Sky Sports that Noni Madueke’s mistake on the edge of the box was what allowed the hosts to take the lead tonight.
A disjointed Chelsea side were all over the place in the first half tonight and got what they deserved when Jefferson Lerma fired a rocket into the corner from distance.
Mauricio Pochettino started a near-identical side to the one who dominated against Aston Villa last week, and this meant another start for Madueke. A lot of the attacking threat was down his side.
However, it was at the other end where he had his real worst moment of the half, losing possessions seconds before the goal.
Neville was particularly critical of the 21-year-old for his part in the opening goal.
Neville tears into Madueke
He said: “Madueke, he’s scruffy on the ball, and Caicedo just can’t keep hold of it. It’s not been the best game, it needed a goal and it got one.
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“They were messing around, but this [the strike] is brilliant. It’s a rocket.
“The moment that really cost Chelsea was Madueke, he shakes his head there, he’s probably still thinking about it. The header breaks to him, he’s got plenty of time but he just turns into him. It’s really poor play.”
Chelsea will need to be at a completely different level in the second half if they are going to get anything out of this game, and keep up their fine run of form against Palace.
