Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher has been criticised for allowing Raheem Sterling to take a penalty that was rightfully picked up by Cole Palmer during the Blues’ FA Cup quarter-final win against Leicester City on Sunday.
Despite Marc Cucurella having given Chelsea the lead early on, Mauricio Pochettino’s side were given the opportunity to double their score from the spot after Abdul Fatawu fouled Sterling.
However, Sterling had a conversation with Palmer, who proceeded to throw the ball towards him, allowing him to take the penalty.
However, Sterling’s tame effort was saved by Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
During BBC’s half-time analysis, former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker and former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink both criticized Gallagher, who should have stepped up to ensure that Palmer remained the penalty taker.
Lineker said it was ‘strange’, while Hasselbaink believes that Gallagher should have gone to Sterling and reminded him that Palmer is the team’s penalty taker and had scored all five of them since joining the club last summer from Manchester City.
“Palmer is the penalty taker, I used to be a penalty taker, at 1-0 I’m not giving that up as a penalty taker,” Hasselbaink said.
“I think as a team as well, Gallagher, as a captain, should go to Sterling and say, ‘no, he’s the penalty taker, he’s taken five in a row, scored all five, he needs to take it, it’s 1-0, let’s secure this match first’.”