Timo Werner reveals why he didn’t take penalty shoot-out against Aston Villa

Chelsea goalscorer Timo Werner has revealed why he did not take a penalty in the shoot-out against Aston Villa on Wednesday evening.

The Blues came out 4-3 victors on penalties after the German’s opening goal was cancelled out by a Cameron Archer equaliser in normal time.

Speaking to Chelsea TV, Werner explained why he did not take one of Chelsea’s five penalties.

He said: “First of all because of my calf, some pain in my calf, I couldn’t go out [get subbed] because we made three substitutions. When you have fit players on the pitch, it’s better that they shoot than me today.”

It appears that the right decision was made as the Blues came out victorious and will now face Southampton in the next round of the Carabao Cup.

Werner looked bright throughout and created several chances. The forward was unlucky not to double his tally for the night in the second half, rolling a chance just wide.

Lukaku joins Marcos Alonso, others to question impact of taking the knee before matches, says “I have to fight…You cannot kill the game by discrimination”

Romelu Lukaku has expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the pre-match ritual of taking the knee, stating that players should take their grouse to the social platforms in order to have strong impact in the battle against racism.

Ahead of the current campaign Premier League players agreed to continue making the salute, that first started at English football grounds during Project Restart, in the continued fight against racism.

But the act has been met with some skepticism from some circles. Wilfried Zaha and Ivan Toney have stopped taking the knee. Zaha branded the act as ‘degrading’ earlier this year while Toney said players were being ‘used as puppets’ in being asked to take a knee.

This week Lukaku’s team-mate Marcos Alonso spoke of his reasons why he has decided to stop making the pre-match gesture.

And speaking to CNN, the Chelsea striker said: “I think we can take stronger positions, basically. Yes, we are taking the knee, but in the end, everybody’s clapping but… sometimes after the game, you see another insult.”

And Lukaku believes players must come together to take on huge online platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.

“The captains of every team, and four or five players, like the big personalities of every team, should have a meeting with the CEOs of Instagram and governments and the FA and the PFA, and we should just sit around the table and have a big meeting about it,” said Lukaku.

“How we can attack it straight away, not only from the men’s game, but also from the women’s game. I think just all of us together and just have a big meeting and have a conference and just talk about stuff that needs to be addressed to protect the players, but also to protect fans and younger players that want to become professional footballers.

“If you want to stop something, you can really do it. We, as players, we can say ‘Yeah, we can boycott social media,’ but I think it’s those companies that have to come and talk to the teams, or to the governments, or to the players themselves and find a way how to stop it because I really think they can.

“I have to fight, because I’m not fighting only for myself. I’m fighting for my son, for my future kids, for my brother, for all of the other players and their kids, you know, for everybody.

“At the end of the day, football should be an enjoyable game… You cannot kill the game by discrimination. That should never happen. Football is joy, it’s happiness and it shouldn’t be a place where you feel unsafe because of the opinion from some uneducated people.”

Antonio Rudiger hands Chelsea fans good news over his Stamford Bridge future despite Bayern Munich interest

Positive news has emerged from Germany for Chelsea fans over the Blues star Antonio Rudiger’s future at Stamford Bridge.

According to reports, Rudiger has handed the west London club a huge boost regarding his contract negotiations as he is ‘leaning towards’ staying at Chelsea.

The 28-year-old is out of contract next season and would be free to talk to foreign sides from January if Chelsea do not strike an agreement over a new deal.

However, as per Sport BILD via Sport Witness, the defender is ‘leaning towards’ staying at Chelsea as opposed to leaving.

It was also reported that German Champions Bayern Munich have contacted Rudiger’s agent and brother Sahr Senesie over a potential Bundesliga return whilst Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain remain interested in the Chelsea star.

However, Chelsea are ‘not thinking’ about letting Rudiger leave despite there being no movement on an extension as of yet.

The Blues are ‘likely to approach’ Rudiger with an ‘offer in recognition’ of his achievements to ward off interest from elsewhere.

Rudiger has been in fine form since Thomas Tuchel took over as Chelsea boss earlier in the year and was shortlisted for UEFA Defender of the Year as the Blues lifted the Champions League trophy back in May and Rudiger could be rewarded with an improved offer from the Blues.