The real reason why Nicolas Jackson was so desperate to take Chelsea penalty off Cole Palmer

The reason why Nicolas Jackson was so desperate to take a penalty instead of Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer has emerged.

On Monday evening Chelsea produced an impressive performance to thrash struggling Everton 6-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Cole Palmer continued his superb first season at Chelsea with an incredible four-goal performance, bagging a hat-trick in a second successive home Premier League match.

Unfortunately for Chelsea and manager Mauricio Pochettino, a fine evening's work was overshadowed by a bizarre moment of squabbling when when the home side were awarded a penalty.

While Palmer - who had already scored three goals that evening - lay on the turf after being fouled, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson fought over the ball.

Madueke won the argument, but senior team-mate Thiago Silva stepped in to calm down a visibly frustrated Jackson.

Palmer then walked over the Madueke and reminded him that he is the team's penalty taker, before captain Conor Gallagher instructed the latter to hand the ball over.

Jackson ran over and tried to grab the ball from Palmer, but the England star pushed him away.

Palmer converted the penalty for his fourth goal of the night, but after the match Pochettino warned that an incident like that cannot happen again.

"For me, this is them showing their age..." @Carra23 and Dele share their views on Chelsea's penalty incident between Palmer, Jackson and Madueke 😨✋ pic.twitter.com/LrIz44Z27K

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

According to The Telegraph, Jackson might have been so desperate to take the penalty as he is trying to finish the season with 15 or more Premier League goals, and feels that 20 in all competitions is achievable.

Jackson was upset when he was substituted in the second half after netting his 10th league goal of the campaign, his 13th in all competitions.

Jackson might also be trying to beat the tally of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba; he has equalled the 10 goals the Ivorian scored in his first league season at Chelsea.

Jackson is understood to have taken on Pochettino's warning, so there should be no repeat of the incident.