Chelsea Fans Blast Pochettino For Benching ‘Match Winner’ Madueke

Chelsea fans have taken to social media to slam Mauricio Pochettino for not giving Madueke the chance to start against Crystal Palace.

Noni Madueke came off the bench to score the winning goal for Chelsea in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

The England U-21 star was brought down in the box by Eberechi Eze and he made no mistake from the spot by sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to hand Chelsea the maximum points.

Madueke impressed when he came off the bench in the 2-1 loss to Wolves on Sunday and with the absence of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling, Chelsea fans expected him to start against Crystal Palace but Pochettino opted for left-back Lan Maatsen as a right winger.

Daniel Shields wrote on X: “This trolling of Madueke really needs to end. Playing a left back in front of him just adds to the infuriating trend of a succession of Chelsea coaches playing players out of position”.

Sports Dokita wrote on X: “Tomorrow Pochettino will bench Madueke and start Maatsen as a winger.”

Mohammed wrote on X: “It’s criminal that Madueke hasn’t gotten more opportunities to play. He is clearly talented and definitely has something to offer, I hope Poch uses him more as the season progresses.”

Alsl, Joao wrote on X: “It’s ironic and depressing that pochetino is not playing Madueke, but he always brings him on when he needs that winning goal”.

For Alex Goldberg, he wrote on X: “Madueke has been consistently overlooked by Pochettino, starting Maatsen at right wing over him was a slap in the face.This better change things moving forward”.

Meanwhile, Pochettino reserved special praise for Madueke for his match-winning performance against Crystal Palace.

He said, “I am so happy because a player who comes from the bench needs to show this character and this hunger. He showed he was ready to take the opportunity.

“He played free. He did what we needed in this moment. I liked it because he showed he was disappointed with me because he didn’t play too much.”

Pochettino also revealed that Madueke was not his choice for the penalty.

He said, “I said it was Conor, but I said to Conor if Noni was more confident, you can give him the penalty,” Pochettino told the club’s website. “You have to be confident in that moment.

“No, he played free. The difference is that he did what we needed in this moment. Go to play, and I like it. It showed that he was upset with me and disappointed with me because he didn’t play too much, also because of his injury. But he thinks yes, now I’m going to show the coach that I can trust in myself.”

Madueke expressed his excitement after a tough start to the season.

He said, “It’s been a stop-start campaign for me.. ‘I’ve had little niggles, little injuries, things that haven’t quite gone my way. I’m happy to have an impact off the bench today and whether I start the next game – or have the same impact off the bench – is up to the manager.”

Chelsea will be back in Premier League action against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, while Crystal Palace takes on Brentford on the same day.