According to Simon Johnson for the Athletic (subscription required), the Chelsea squad were left ‘seething’ after the antics of Daniel Amartey after Leicester won the FA Cup final on the weekend.
In the immediate post-match celebration following the Foxes’ triumph over the Blues, Amartey, an unused substitute for the all-important clash, threw the Chelsea pennant onto the dirty floor.
The Athletic report that Thomas Tuchel did not make a point of showing the footage to the Blues players, which they will have seen anyway considering the fact it went viral and mocked their club.
It’s added that the moment was ‘the talk of the dressing room’ in the build-up to the two sides’ meeting in the Premier League that came straight after, on Tuesday night.
With sources informing the Athletic that the moment was see by the whole squad and ‘it fired them up’, it was no surprise to see Chelsea stars clashing with Amartey during Tuesday evening’s tie.
A brawl involving both sets of players and staff broke out in the final stages of the league encounter between the two, and Amartey saw his decision to get involved massively backfire.
As soon as Chelsea noticed intervention from Amartey, Thiago Silva went at the Ghanaian in absolute rage – pointing into the once again unused substitute’s face and having to be restrained.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Mason Mount and Edouard Mendy also showed their displease towards Amartey before Spaniard Marcos Alonso and Kepa Arrizabalaga moved him out the huddle in a smart move.
The Athletic add that Chelsea saw Amartey’s involvement in another incident against them as a sign that the star’s ‘ego’ was ‘out of control’ and that the Ghana international lacked ‘class’.
Antonio Rudiger, who has rose from the depths of outcast to emerge as a leader since Tuchel’s arrival, then publicly addressed the Amartey matter after the match.
Rudiger insisted that the Blues sought to ‘punish’ Amartey and some of his teammates for their antics, whilst he also expressed displeasure at the ‘disrespect’ towards the club’s ‘history’.
Here is what Rudiger had to say, per the Athletic via Chelsea TV:
“We wanted to show to them because top four was on the line and unfortunately some people from them don’t know how to celebrate. We had to punish them for this.”
“After we lost the final, we talked with each other, that it’s a massive game coming up and we are (going to have to be) on it. Some people from them gave us a bit more motivation.”
“Congratulations to them, they won (the final), celebrate and everything. But don’t disrespect club history. This is a bit bigger than you.”
Brendan Rodgers will likely have to leave Amartey as an unused substitute whenever these sides meet again for the foreseeable future.