Chelsea's Joao Pedro breaks silence after Luis Enrique altercation
by Samuel MeadeSports Brand Writer, Oisin Doherty, Cameron Winstanley · Irish MirrorChelsea's Joao Pedro, who netted the third goal in their Club World Cup final victory against PSG, labelled the opposition as having 'lost their heads' following heated scenes in New York, with Luis Enrique right in the heart of the chaos.
Pedro's first-half strike contributed to a shock lead over the Champions League title-holders, yet the Brazilian was later embroiled in a pitch fracas.
The tension peaked towards the game's conclusion, leading to PSG's Joao Neves being sent off for yanking Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella by the hair. The skirmish subsequently spilled over into full-time, involving both team benches with Pedro and Enrique amidst the commotion.
The Spaniard insisted his intent was to diffuse the situation, but during the fractious moment, he seemed to swing an arm, knocking Pedro to the ground.
The recent Chelsea signee, who arrived from Brighton for £60million, said: "I don't need to talk about them. Everyone wants to win the game and, in the end, I think they lost their heads.
"But this is football. This has happened. Now we need to enjoy it because we won the tournament, that's it. I don't want to talk too much about them because you know how it works. Football is this."
PSG, who breezed past Real Madrid in the semi-finals, came into the match as the firm favourites. However, they found themselves outplayed by a dominant Chelsea side that clinched the trophy at MetLife Stadium.
Enrique stood by his full-time behaviour, insisting he was aiming to quell the tensions.
He said: "I have no problem expressing my feelings at the end of the game in a high level of pressure. It's very stressful for all of us. It is going to be impossible to avoid that. Everybody was involved. It was not what was best and the end result of the pressure of the match.
"I have seen (Chelsea manager Enzo) Maresca. I saw he had pushed others and we had to separate all the players and I do not know where that pressure came from.
"But this is a situation we must all avoid, that goes without saying. My intention was to separate the footballers so the situation didn't become worse."
Following the brawl, Chelsea lifted the first edition of the revamped tournament. But during their crowning moment, captain Reece James found himself in a bizarre encounter with US President Donald Trump, who remained in the middle of the Chelsea trophy lift.
Cole Palmer, whose brace had the Blues 2-0 up inside half an hour, was named Player of the Tournament.