Eden Hazard left shocked at what Mauricio Pochettino did in Manchester city vs Chelsea clash
Chelsea legend Eden Hazard has claimed that he was left extremely surprised at one decision Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino made in the second half of their 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
He told ‘The Rest is Football’ that he was left scratching his head at one of the substitutions the Argentine made as his side looked to hold on to an unlikely victory.
Pochettino will have been extremely proud of what he had seen from his players in the final game before the EFL Cup final.
A superb defensive display looked as if it was going to shut out the champions before Rodri struck late on.
Some may have believed the goal was coming though, as Chelsea began to sit deep and were defending for their lives through Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill.
Micah Richards theorised that they started playing into City’s hands as the game approached its final moments.
Hazard said on Pochettino subbing Palmer
He said: “It was weird as around the 70th minute they went to a five at the back and it sort of played into City’s hands and that’s where the Rodri goal came from.”
Eden Hazard agreed, stating that the decision to substitute Cole Palmer in particular was one that stunned him.
He said: “I agree with that. I think Pochettino is getting something there, Chelsea are a very young side and they can grow, but I was very, very surprised when he took Cole Palmer off because they were at a stage where they were struggling to get out and he was the one player who could keep the ball at that particular point and keep them in the game and he took him off and put a defender on and they were even deeper.”
Against his former side, Palmer continued to show them what they were missing as he put in another strong performance.
He also played a big part in the goal, combining well with Nicolas Jackson and fellow former Citizen Raheem Sterling.