Chelsea fans brutally mocked their own team – despite making a stunning start to their FA Cup replay at Aston Villa.
The beleaguered Blues travelled to Birmingham following six defeats in their previous seven away games. At the weekend, they were humbled 4-2 at home by Wolves, leaving them closer to the Premier League relegation zone than the Champions League spots.
However, to the shock of fans at Villa Park and the millions watching on TV, the Blues came roaring out of the blocks, taking a deserved lead through Conor Gallagher’s superb 11th-minute finish.
Stunned by their team’s impressive start against a Villa side who boast a strong home record, the near 7,000 travelling fans chanted: “How s*** must you be, we’re winning away!”
The humorous chant was even mentioned by ITV commenter Sam Matterface. Those Chelsea fans were in raptures again a few minutes later when Nicholas Jackson headed home to double the lead.
Before the game, Mauricio Pochettino had faced awkward questions over his decision to drop Thiago Silva to the bench – days after the player’s wife had appeared to call for the Blues head coach to be sacked.
The Argentine looked uncomfortable when asked about Thiago’s demotion by ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke.
“Why the question?” said Pochettino.” When Clarke repeated the question, Pochettino added: “I am professional. I understand the question. I want to be calm. I always pick my players based on performance and balance. That’s it.”
Clarke probed again: “It’s about that and nothing else?” Pochettino replied: “My answer is clear, no?”
Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku were also dropped out of the team, with Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile and Jackson coming in.
