Enzo Fernandez went to take his shirt off after scoring in London on Sunday
But his Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Jackson stopped him, to a punter's dismay
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By BEN WILLCOCKS
Published: 06:16 EST, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 06:36 EST, 9 December 2024
Nicolas Jackson has stopped a fan from winning over £1,000 with an act that is very rarely seen on a football pitch.
Chelsea, who found themselves 2-0 down against Tottenham inside the opening 11 minutes on Sunday night, fought back to triumph 4-3 over their London rivals to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool in the title race.
The Blues halved the deficit through Jadon Sancho shortly after Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski fired Spurs in front — and were back on level terms when Cole Palmer coolly slotted home his first penalty of the evening.
Enzo Fernandez scored his third goal in four league games to put Chelsea ahead in the 73rd minute, before Palmer netted a Paneka penalty to put the game beyond Spurs, who claimed a late consolation goal through Son Heung-min.
Fernandez, who has been the subject of criticism since his £107million move to Stamford Bridge but is now enjoying a rich vein of form, went to take his shirt off after smashing his left-footed effort past Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
As he wheeled away to celebrate with the away fans, Fernandez had his shirt halfway past his head but was swiftly stopped by team-mate Jackson, who pulled down on the jersey to prevent what would have been a yellow card offence.
Fernandez's strike gave Chelsea their first lead of the game in 73rd minute in north London
Cole Palmer weaves his way through the Tottenham defence and Enzo Fernandez is there to finish it off with a brilliant strike ð« pic.twitter.com/UofYO0PxY4
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2024
Referees are automatically required to book players who remove their shirts during a Premier League match, as happened with Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah against Southampton last month.
Although Jackson will have pleased manager Enzo Maresca, one punter will be ruing the striker's act of quick-thinking as it prevented their 200/1 10-leg bet from landing.
The fan placed £5 stake on the 10-fold accumulator and had nine of those legs return, with only a yellow card from Fernandez needed to claim the £1,005 return.
They also bet on Romeo Lavia and Pape Sarr to be booked during the game, as well as both teams to score and several players to pick up over 0.5 fouls or 1.5 fouls.
Despite scoring in the London derby, Jackson has been in superb form so far this campaign, chalking up eight goals and three assists from his opening 14 league fixtures.
Jackson himself is on four yellow cards and one booking away from a one-match suspension, while Fernandez only has one to his name so far.
The 4-3 win fired Chelsea above Arsenal in the Premier League table and just four points behind Liverpool, whose Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday was postponed as a result of Storm Darragh.
Maresca maintains that he himself does not believe they are truly ready to be in this season's title race, even joking their rivals will not 'slide like Marc Cucurella' after his two slips led to Spurs' goals here.
Enzo Maresca does not believe his side are in a title race, but didn't stop fans from 'dreaming'
The Chelsea striker, who has four yellow cards, has been in superb form so far this campaign, chalking up eight goals and three assists from his opening 14 fixtures in the Premier League
Encouraging supporters to believe, however, Maresca said: 'The fans can dream because from the outside, it is quite clear.
'Inside, the reality is we are not ready, but the important thing is we improve day by day. Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don't slide like Marc Cucurella did!'
Meanwhile, Tottenham slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League this weekend, with pressure mounting significantly on Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian will be looking for a response from his side during their Europa League match against Rangers on Thursday, while in-form Chelsea face Astana in the Europa Conference League.