Rio Ferdinand calls for Chelsea star to be fined two-weeks’ wages for ‘disrespectful’ behaviour in Blues’ draw against Arsenal
Rio Ferdinand has slammed one of Chelsea’s biggest talents for a ‘disrespectful’ act in the side’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal and called for him to be fined two-weeks’ wages.
Enzo Maresca’s outfit went into the crunch match after smashing eight past Armenian minnows FC Noah in the Europa Conference League in the week, and were above their London rivals on goal difference.
But following a turgid opening 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge, they fell behind courtesy of a Gabriel Martinelli near-post finish after returning captain Martin Odegaard found him free in the box.
The deficit did not last long, with summer signing Pedro Neto restoring parity thanks to a thumping long-range effort to secure his first Premier League strike for the club.
In between the two goals, one young star was substituted and his reaction did not go down well with Ferdinand and the former Manchester United defender explained his disapproval on his podcast Rio Ferdinand presents.
Noni Madueke stormed off down the tunnel with his side 1-0 down against Arsenal on Sunday
Rio Ferdinand argued that the winger’s behaviour was ‘disrespectful’ and he should be fined
Manager Enzo Maresca refused to criticise the 22-year-old for his display of frustration
With his side a goal down, Chelsea winger Noni Madueke was replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk and immediately charged down the tunnel in frustration after a disappointing hour on the pitch.
Ferdinand said: ‘You think (Danny) Welbeck or Tom Cleverly or Nani are going to storm off the pitch and throw their dummy out?
‘It’s a young team. Who are the experienced players who are going to go in there and say, ‘Woah, we don’t accept that here’.
‘And I understand his thinking but at the same time, I don’t understand why you are doing that.’
The former England international added that the onus was on Maresca to lay down the law.
‘That’s where the manager comes in,’ he said. ‘I think the manager protecting him is mad.
‘And that’s why I couldn’t be in there [as a manager] because I couldn’t come out and play the game where you say, ‘Yeah he was in the wrong but [he’s a good kid]’. Fined, that’s a two-week fine.’
After the match, Maresca defended his decision to hook Madueke early but did not criticise the England star for his behaviour.
Madueke had been replaced by Ukrainina star Mykhailo Mudryk, who was full of running
Gabriel Martinelli fired Arsenal in front against Chelsea but the game ended in a 1-1 draw
Chelsea earned a point after a fine equaliser from former Wolves playmaker Pedro Neto
He said: ‘The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy.
‘Probably the only way to be happy is after the Wolves game where he scored a hat-trick and we changed him, so he was happy. It’s not only about Noni, it’s about all the players.
‘It’s a good thing because they want to be there until the end. But in that moment, we thought in different ways, probably Pedro with Timber could be a little bit more aggressive – and also with Misha.
‘So it was a tactical decision, no more than that.’
Madueke, 22, came into the derby full of fighting talk and looked disconsolate when he realised he would not be given the opportunity to drag his side back into the contest.
Ahead of the match, he said: ‘There’s always a little bit of bragging rights with the boys but I’m going into Sunday trying to win for sure, so are my team-mates.
‘It’s just like any other Premier League fixture but there’s always that added rivalry when you play with them for the national team as well.
‘Whenever we don’t win, we are always frustrated and Manchester United was exactly the same – we have to try and win those games. We also dropped points against Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.’
Kai Havertz had shushed Chelsea fans after scoring a goal, which was eventually disallowed
In the dying seconds, Leandro Trossard failed to prod home a cross from a few yards out
Madueke now turns his attention to a busy international break with Lee Carsley’s England
The much-hyped derby pitted a resurgent Chelsea side against an Arsenal outfit hoping for their first Premier League win in four but the opening period proved to be a turgid affair.
Kai Havertz thought he had given the Gunners a lead over his former team, celebrating enthusiastically after a smart finish only to have VAR judge him to have been in an offside position.
The second-half was slightly more open, particularly following Martinelli’s opener, and after Chelsea’s equaliser the ball was soon in the back of the net again.
Nicolas Jackson ran through on goal and produced a nerveless finished but even he knew he was yards offside, raising questions over why the linesman hadn’t flagged earlier.
Chelsea looked the more likely to score towards the end but Arsenal had the biggest chance of the lot through Trossard in the dying seconds.
Madueke must now dust off the disappointment of Sunday’s draw, which leaves both sides nine points behind leader Liverpool, and prepare for an important set of Nations League fixtures against Greece and Ireland this week.
