Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino says he was “so upset” about the dispute over who would take the penalty in their 6-0 win over Everton and has warned his players not to do it again.
Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke argued over who would take a spot-kick, which Cole Palmer – Chelsea’s regular taker – scored for his fourth goal.
“I can’t accept this kind of behaviour,” said Pochettino.
“I told them it’s the last time I want to see this kind of behaviour.”
He added: “It is impossible to have this type of behaviour after this performance. If we want to be a great team, we need to change and think in a collective way.”
Palmer won the 64th minute penalty for the Blues and is their usual taker, with this his ninth successful spot-kick of the season.
Madueke initially took the ball, after his row with Jackson, and would not hand it to Palmer. Captain Conor Gallagher grabbed the ball off him and gave it to the England international. But Jackson then came over and tried to take the ball off Palmer, who had to shove the striker away before placing the ball on the spot.
Pochettino said afterwards that all the players know Palmer is the designated penalty taker.
“The penalty taker is Palmer. It’s Palmer who needs to decide if he wants to give the ball to a team-mate. It’s important to fix. They realise now,” the Argentine said.
“It’s a shame. It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. I want to apologise to the fans.
“They need to learn and be professional. We need to be focused on the collective. It’s a clear example that it’s a process we still need to learn.”
Palmer has converted all nine penalties he has taken in the Premier League with only former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, has a better 100% conversion rate – from 11 penalties – in the competition’s history.
Palmer himself tried to play down the incident afterwards.
“Other players wanted to take it, but I am the penalty taker and I wanted to take it,” the ex-Manchester City player said.
“I think we are showing everyone wants to take responsibility. It may be a bit over the top, but everyone wants to win – we are laughing and joking about it.”
Everton midfielder Dele Alli, watching the game for Sky Sports as he continues his recovery from a long-term injury, saw it differently.
This was Palmer’s second home hat-trick in a row, having scored a 100th-minute penalty in a 4-3 win over Manchester United earlier this month.
“This is them showing their age. I’m not there at the training ground every day, but as far as I’m aware in their last big game, in the last minute when the pressure was on I didn’t see them all fighting to take it then,” he said.
“It’s alright when it’s 4-0 and you all want to get on the scoresheet.”