Carragher lauds Chelsea star for showing 'captain' qualities in Arsenal incident

24 October 2023 , 11:37

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Carragher lauds Chelsea star for showing 'captain' qualities in Arsenal incident

Jamie Carragher has hailed Enzo Fernandez for showing his "authority" as Chelsea teammates appeared to argue over who took the penalty in their 2-2 draw against Arsenal.

The Blues were awarded a spot-kick in the first-half of the game at Stamford Bridge after William Saliba handled the ball inside the box. Referee Chris Kavanagh initially waved away appeals, but after a VAR recommendation to look at the pitch-side monitor, he overruled his decision and pointed to the spot.

However, as Chelsea were about to take it, Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling seemed to confront each-other about who should have that responsibility to strike from 12 yards. Fernandez, a £106million arrival from Benfica in January, went over and appeared to break peace between the two former Manchester City team-mates.

Palmer eventually took the penalty and coolly slotted the ball beyond David Raya, who dived in the opposite direction. Speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher pointed out Fernandez's role in the scuffle and praised the Argentina World Cup winner.

Carragher told Sky Sports: "I don't really like that [players arguing for a penalty]. I think people should know before the game who the penalty taker is. But what I did like was the authority shown by Enzo Fernandez.

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"For a young player, he is saying to a seasoned professional in Raheem Sterling that Cole Palmer is taking it, in almost that cool manner. It was almost captain-like or someone in their early 30's. It was really interesting and it was good to see Cole Palmer score to go along with his performance."

Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Fernandez during Chelsea's 2-2 draw against Arsenal (Getty Images)

As for the game itself, Mykhaylo Mudryk doubled Chelsea's lead just after half-time, as his cross looped over the despairing dive of Raya. However, despite dominating for the majority of the game, the Blues could not hold out as Arsenal staged a late comeback. First, Declan Rice slotted home following a mistake from Robert Sanchez, before Leandro Trossard equalised in the 84th minute.

Speaking on his side's performance, Pochettino added: "We were facing a team that last season was really close to winning the Premier League. Then they invested and added players to make their squad stronger. They are a very good team.

"We are maybe at the beginning of our project and that is why we have to take positive things. I think we competed really well and after 77 minutes of the game, we had been better and hadn’t conceded too many chances. That is credit to the team and we need to only go forward in a positive way."

Kieran King