Mauricio Pochettino involved in explosive X-rated row with journalist over Chelsea penalty question

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino had a tense row with a journalist over the penalty saga during his side's 6-0 win over Everton - having already expressed his anger at the incident.

The Blues recorded their biggest victory of the Argentinian's reign at Stamford Bridge, with Cole Palmer scoring an incredible four goals.

And while Pochettino would have hoped that the main talking point of the match was the huge margin of the result, and a potential push towards Europe, that hasn't exactly been the case.

Instead, most of the post-match focus was on an incident involving Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson, which resulted in Blues captain Conor Gallagher having to take the ball off Madueke to hand it to Palmer, who is the club's designated penalty taker.

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— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 15, 2024

And the saga left a sour taste in Pochettino's mouth when asked about it post-match.

He fumed: "The taker on penalties is Cole Palmer. What happened afterwards is a shame.

"I am so, so upset about the situation., We were talking in the dressing room about the image that we send out - it was Monday Night Football and in every single country they were watching. We cannot send this type of image.

"It's a shame. I would like to apologise to football people and to our fans, because that is unacceptable."

He continued: "After an unbelievable game that we were playing from the beginning, to talk about that is a shame."

Pochettino then ended the press conference and left the room - before muttering a comment towards one of the journalists in attendance.

As the Chelsea manager walked away, another journalist shouted: "You stopped the press conference. We didn't stop the press conference - you stopped the press conference."

But Pochettino wasn't having any of it, firing back: "No. Every question was in this way [about the penalty]."

The journalist then continued: "They were questions about the game. S**t management of a press conference."

You can watch the full exchange below.

🚨 Pochettino argues with a journalist last night about them asking only about the penalty incident after Chelsea won 6-0 pic.twitter.com/YGAhOX0XuR

— LONDONSFIRST™ (@LondonsFirst_) April 16, 2024

SPORTbible have contacted Chelsea Football Club for comment.

The Argentinian will now hope that focus quickly returns to on-pitch matters, with the Blues now just three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle with a game in hand in the race for the European qualifying positions.