Raheem Sterling could barely catch a break during the first half of Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Leicester on Sunday.
The England winger, who was left out of the Three Lions’ squad for the upcoming March internationals, has scored just once in his last 13 appearances for the Blues, though he has managed six Premier League goals and three assists in 25 matches so far in 2023/24.
However, he created a rod for his own back when he attempted to convert a spot-kick against the Foxes on Sunday, with many fans confused as to why Cole Palmer did not step up instead.
Chelsea were already 1-0 up against Leicester thanks to Marc Cucurella’s 13th-minute tap in and things looked set to get even better against the Championship title hopefuls.
In the 25th minute, Sterling was felled in the box by Abdul Fatawu as referee Andy Madley pointed to the spot. Somewhat surprisingly, Sterling claimed the ball ahead of regular Blues penalty-taker Cole Palmer, who had scored his last five spot-kicks in a row.
Sterling could only send a tame effort down the middle of the goal from the spot, allowing Jakub Stolarczyk to make an easy save.
In his post-match press conference, Mauricio Pochettino said: “Raheem asked for the ball for the penalty and Cole gave the ball. You saw on the TV but that is not a problem.
“Cole can miss, Raheem can miss. For me, their decision and I will always support the decision of my players on the pitch.
“It’s obvious that I cannot hide nothing. You are like me, the feelings weren’t good for him [Sterling] but I am going to support him, we are all going to support him.
“We need to accept. It doesn’t mean we agree or not agree but we have to accept because our fans, all the fans in football live expectation and want the best for the club, the best for the players.”
With Sunday’s miss in the FA Cup, Sterling has now missed more penalties than he’s scored in his professional career.
The England forward has previously converted four times from the spot, three coming with former club Manchester City and another with England back in 2020. However, he also fluffed his lines on four occasions during his spell with the Cityzens, who previously struggled to regularly convert penalties before the arrival of Erling Haaland.
In contrast, Palmer is yet to miss a spot-kick. The 21-year-old has taken five penalties so far for Chelsea, netting all five of his efforts to date against the likes of…
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