Thiago Silva approached a group of 'furious' Chelsea fans after their 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough – and fan footage of the interaction has since emerged.
The Blues fell to a miserable loss in Tuesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final final leg at the Riverside, as a first-half strike from Hayden Hackney gave the Championship side a slender advantage.
Mauricio Pochettino's side, who have been lacklustre, to say the least, this season, have some serious work to do when they host Boro at Stamford Bridge on January 23.
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After last night's full-time whistle, a number of frustrated Chelsea fans voiced their anger at their latest performance.
A number of Blues players, including Armando Broja, Conor Gallagher and Levi Colwill, would later make their way over to the away section but were met with a smattering of boos and jeers.
In fact, Thiago Silva confronted the supporters and appeared to apologise after an initially heated-looking altercation.
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Footage of the incident soon emerged online. "A few fans looked very angry and expressed frustration, while some applauded," said X account @SportsCN2.
Mauricio Pochettino would later explain what happened between Silva and those who made the trip to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.
Rather than directing their anger in the direction of his own players, the Argentine said Chelsea fans were being provoked by opposition fans.
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"Don't be confused because the fans were reacting to Middlesbrough fans, not with our players, our fans were fantastic with us," he said.
"I think it was Thiago and some players I listened, they were trying to calm our fans because I think it was a problem between the fans. Not with our fans and players.
"Be careful how you translate to the media or our fans. Don't confuse the people."
Pochettino would also describe the performance against Championship side Middlesbrough as "good" before expressing his optimism about this month's reverse fixture.
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"That is the first 90 minutes," he said. "We are losing one-nil and now we have the second leg, 90 minutes more at Stamford Bridge and we need to be positive.
"Now, what we need to do, because we don't know if we will recover players in time for Fulham. In a few days we have another game in the Premier League we need to win.
"Now we need to provide our players with trust and confidence in our players and recover as soon as possible to play Saturday in the best condition."
Topics: Thiago Silva, Chelsea, Carabao Cup, Middlesbrough
Jack Kenmare