Blues striker Nicolas Jackson was captured slapping an opponent during their clash against Nottingham Forest last weekend. This fixture was very important for Chelsea as it was their last match before the international break. So, they were pretty desperate to gain all the three points to ensure their top 4 spot.
However, things didn’t go as planned for the Blues. Though Maresca’s men dominated the game most of the times but still the visitors managed to score the opening goal in the 49th minute. As a lofted freekick from Ward-Prowse found the foot of Forest striker Chris Wood, who tapped in the ball into the net.
However, the joy of the Forest fans didn’t last for long. As the home team equalized in the 57th minute from a wonderful solo effort by Noni Madueke. The English winger’s grounded shot paved its way through the crowded Forest box to squaring up things at the Stamford Bridge.
But Chelsea still fell short to find the winner atlast. The Blues are currently at the 4th place in the Premier League. But they are not in a safe position as of now. Because Aston Villa are just behind them at the 5th spot with same points on their name.
Maresca was not happy with the results against Forests last Sunday as he believed a win against them could have boosted their lead. But he was happy with his squad, as they were united during all the chaos that happened during the game.
Jackson slaps Morato
The Chelsea Nottingham clash was full with dramas and chaos. We saw nasty fouls, yellow cards, red cards, fights and everything. A total of 10 yellow cards(1 red card) were shown in the game by the on-field referee Graham Kavanagh.
The main focus after the game was on Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson. As he was seen slapping Forest defender Morato in face. This incident happened in the late 80th minutes. And all of it started when, Forest full-back Neco Williams shoved Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella into Enzo Maresca. Due to that, all the Chelsea players became furious and went near the technical area to fight for their peer and manager.
Blues striker Jackson who was already substituted few minutes ago, was also present there during the chaos. And he was captured slapping Morato in the footages from the stands. When Maresca was asked about the incident near his technical area in the post match interview, the Italian said,
“These things can happen. In terms of emotion, the team is fighting altogether and I don’t think some of them lose their heads. They were, all of them, in the game. I was happy with that.”
Maresca also spoke specifically about Jackson in that conference. He said, “In that moment, I think not only Nicolas was inside the pitch. If you look, more players from the bench were inside the pitch.”
FA to take action against Chelsea
The Football Association has decided not to take any disciplinary action against Nicolas Jackson for the incident. As the FA believes the fault was from both the sides. And that is why FA have decided to charge Chelsea and Nottingham due to their inability to control their players. As a statement from FA described that “both clubs failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way”.
Both the clubs have a week to provide their responses to FA. Chelsea would also have to pay a fine of £25,000 and attend a hearing from the FA officials. As 6 Chelsea players were booked in the clash against Nottingham last weekend, which happened for the second time this season.
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