Chelsea forward Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang was reportedly left steaming after his clash against Manchester City.
Aubameyang was named on the Blues’ substitutes bench for the game at Stamford Bridge on Thursday. He was brought on five minutes into the contest after Raheem Sterling went down with a reported hamstring injury.
The 33-year-old has made just four Premier League starts under Graham Potter and has become a fixture on the bench recently, with Kai Havertz preferred up front. Aubameyang was brought in to work alongside Thomas Tuchel, but the German was sacked a matter of days following the forward’s move to West London.
It is safe to say the former Arsenal striker did not take it. Aubameyang was isolated in the centre-forward role and had 14 touches on the ball across his 63 minutes on the pitch. Of those touches, he completed ten passes, had one touch in the City box and failed to have a shot.
Aubameyang also didn’t provide much help on a defensive note, winning one duel and committing one foul. The forward worked as hard as he could up front but to no avail as Omari Hutchinson replaced him in the 67th minute – which was a professional debut for the teenager.
“He came on after one minute and hadn’t played for a while,” Potter said. “He put in a shift for us, and I thought he did his bit for the team. He fatigued a bit, so we thought we needed a bit of energy, and the subs brought that.
“I haven’t had time to speak to him in-depth, but he understands. Players want to help the team, and it’s a decision that must be made. He gave everything to the team. That was the decision”, the Chelsea boss mentioned after the game.
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