Nicolas Jackson was given a helpful reprieve by Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino when he was not sent off for an ill-advised foul during Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to Arsenal.
Despite some spectators’ contentions that Takehiro Tomiyasu, 22, may have seen red, the attacker forcibly grabbed his ankle early in the first half but was not punished by the on-field referee or the VAR. Rio Ferdinand, a pundit for TNT Sports, was among them and remarked, “Wow, I’m going to need that explained to me!”
Given that he would have had more than one booking before the late-season cutoff point, a caution would have resulted in the forward missing two games. However, Jackson has received nine yellow cards, and Chelsea has now played 32 games in the Premier League.
The Blues were second best all night and suffered another disappointing result having put on a good display in the 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. Pochettino said he felt “really bad” after full-time, musing: “When we have bad days, we are so bad. When we are good, we are capable of everything.”
The Argentine said he believed his team “gave up” at one point in his post-match press conference, but he then clarified, saying, “It’s not the character [of the players].”
“I played football and I was in some similar situations with big players. I played with Maradona, Ronaldinho, but it’s true some part of the season, this type of thing can happen.
“Because also of the opponent, our energy, nothing is for you in this situation and you cannot find nothing positive during the game. This type of things happen and will happen for sure with different teams.”
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