Mauricio Pochettino made quite a few substitutions in Chelsea’s 6-1 win against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup last night.
That includes Mykhailo Mudryk, who was taken off at half-time, and Mauricio Pochettino told football.london and the rest of the English media why he withdrew the winger after the game.
Overall, it was a good night for Chelsea. They went into the match 1-0 down in the tie after losing the first leg at the Riverside.
In the end, though, it was an easy comeback for the Blues, with Enzo Fernandez, Axel Disasi, Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke all scoring to guide the club to a 6-2 win on aggregate.
Palmer bagged a brace, while an own goal from Jonny Howson got the ball rolling for Chelsea.
Mauricio Pochettino explains Mykhailo Mudryk substitution
With Mudryk already on a yellow card, Pochettino did not want to take any risks and decided to take off the 23-year-old.
On Mudryk’s withdrawal, the Argentine said: “If you watched the game, he got a yellow card. It was then an action at the end of the first-half, he was too risky and almost touched the opponent and we didn’t want to take a risk with him. That is why we changed.”
Will Mykhailo Mudryk start Chelsea’s next game against Aston Villa?
Chelsea will be back in action soon when they take on Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.
It is not impossible that Mudryk starts, especially considering he will be more fresh than the likes of Palmer and Raheem Sterling after being taken off early in the Middlesbrough victory.
However, Villa are a very good side, so you would expect Pochettino to go with Palmer and Sterling, who have been his two main wide men this season, while Madueke’s goal last night could also bump the England U21 international above Mudryk in the pecking order for this upcoming match.
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