MAURICIO POCHETTINO could be heard telling a Chelsea fan to ‘support the team!’ after Nicolas Jackson came in for criticism from the stands.
Just moments before the half-time whistle – and with a Brentford player receiving treatment for a minor injury – Stamford Bridge was in near silence.
Close to the press box, a Chelsea fan could be heard shouting: “Hey [Nicolas] Jackson, wake up!
“Why don’t you score a goal?”
Jackson appeared to put his finger to his mouth as if to silence the fan.
Then Blues boss Pochettino, whose dugout is just 10 metres in front of media members, turned around and had his say.
“Support the team!” Poch shouted in the general direction of the East Stand Lower.
Other Chelsea fans in that section then clapped the manager’s response, with the half-time whistle blowing moments later.
Chelsea crashed to a first defeat in four in all competitions against their local rivals, Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo scoring for the Bees.
Pochettino’s side registered a dominant 70% possession but struggled to carve out clear-cut chances – especially after going a goal down.
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Noni Madueke almost scored in the early stages, cutting inside Aaron Hickey and unleashing a swirling effort that rocked the angle of the post and bar.
Raheem Sterling had a penalty shout waved away by VAR before Marc Cucurella had Chelsea’s best chance but his soft volley from a Cole Palmer cross was easily collected by Brentford keeper Mark Flekken.
The Blues then had a reasonable shout for a penalty waved away by VAR after Raheem Sterling was shoved by Mads Roerslev.
However, their good work in the first half was undone when Ethan Pinnock arrived late to crash home a header at the far post and put Brentford 1-0 up.
Pushing for an equaliser late on, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez went up for a corner but the Blues were punished as Bryan Mbeumo raced through to score into an empty net.
Speaking about the incident after the game, Pochettino said: “It was a moment where we all felt frustrated. We had played well but we hadn’t scored.
“Jackson arrived to me to try and find a solution [in the game].
“One fan said ‘wake up’ and abused him a little bit – maybe not abuse but abusive – and Nico lost a bit of focus in that moment.
“So I said we need to support the players and stay behind the team.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
