In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Madueke posted an image of the Chelsea team on Instagram, displaying a pre-match huddle with a blue heart emoji. The post possibly aimed to showcase squad togetherness and was a response to criticism directed towards the 22-year-old due to his actions against the Toffees. At the time, the Blues were leading 4-0, courtesy of Palmer’s first-half hat-trick and a Nicolas Jackson goal when a penalty was awarded after Abdoulaye Doucoure fouled the club’s leading goalscorer. Despite the designated penalty taker being Palmer, Madueke insisted on taking the penalty and continued to dispute it even after captain Conor Gallagher and Palmer attempted to intervene.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino condemned the behavior and emphasized the need for a collective team approach, expressing disappointment and apologizing to the fans. Madueke disabled comments on his post, likely anticipating fan criticism. Despite the incident, Palmer refrained from criticizing Madueke and emphasized the team’s collective responsibility. Palmer, who has scored all nine penalties he has taken in the Premier League, acknowledged that other players wanted to take the penalty but highlighted the team’s determination to win.
It is also noted that Yaya Toure, a former Manchester City player, is the only other player to have scored more penalties in the Premier League while maintaining a 100 percent conversion rate, having scored 11 out of 11 penalties.