John Obi Mikel was not too disappointed with Cole Palmer’s penalty miss in Chelsea’s Premier League game against Leicester City on Sunday
The Blues were able to win the match 1-0 in the end, and Mikel was still impressed with Palmer after one decision he made on the day.
Chelsea earned their three points thanks to Marc Cucurella, who broke the deadlock with an excellent strike on the hour mark.
After the game, Jadon Sancho spoke about Cucurella’s goal, claiming he was not surprised by it after watching his teammate in training.
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images
John Obi Mikel applauds Cole Palmer for playing in Chelsea’s win against Leicester despite feeling sick
While Cucurella scored the winner and Sancho put in a bright display, Palmer missed a penalty and was not at his best against Leicester.
However, there is a good reason for that, with Enzo Maresca confirming after the match that the attacking midfielder had not been feeling well.
Nevertheless, Palmer still decided to play, and his decision to do so really impressed Mikel.
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Speaking about the England international on The Obi One Podcast, the Chelsea legend said: “The manager’s touched on it. He was sick, 48 hours, he didn’t train, he wasn’t feeling really well, but then he came out to help the team.
“This is what you want to hear from players! This is what you want to see, you know what I mean? He’s the main man, he knows that, he knows the team needs him. We want to finish in the top four and he’s come out and he’s performed the way he’s performed.
“Yes, he missed the penalty… you can forgive him. He’s scored how many penalties, 12, and missed? First one he’s missed, come on, come on. I don’t think we even need to mention that. You can forgive him for that.”
Christopher Nkunku started on the left, while Joao Felix is currently out on loan at AC Milan, so Palmer did Maresca a huge favour by starting in the No.10 position.
Milan are not planning to buy Felix as things stand, so he could return to Stamford Bridge in the summer and be another option for the No.10 role.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Enzo Maresca explains just how sick Cole Palmer was
It was not just a small cold that Palmer was suffering from. According to Maresca, he had both a fever and diarrhoea.
Speaking to BBC Sport and other outlets after the Leicester game, the Chelsea head coach said: “Cole didn’t train yesterday and during the night he didn’t feel well.
“The reason why he didn’t train yesterday is fever and diarrhoea in the last 48 hours. This morning, he woke up and he asked me, ‘I want to be on the pitch because I want to help this team, this club to play Champions League’. This shows how these players want to bring the club where it belongs to.”
Palmer, then, really deserves credit for taking to the Stamford Bridge pitch. And having had a perfect penalty record before his miss against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side, no Chelsea fan is going to be unhappy with him, especially with the Blues still coming out as victors on the day.