“Protect my friend” – Joao Pedro explains why he got involved in scuffle with PSG at full time | OneFootball

Chelsea striker Joao Pedro has explained why he got involved in a scuffle at the end of the Club World Cup final.

The Blues had just won the game comfortably, thrashing European Champions PSG to win the Club World Cup. And then things all turned rather ugly at the full time whistle when the rival players clashed and started arguing and shoving each other.

Things got so heated that PSG manager Luiz Enrique hit Pedro in the face, leaving him to fall backwards on the floor. It was a disgusting moment to be honest and completely out of order, even if it was more of a push to the face than a direct hit.

It wasn’t a nice moment and certainly proved to me that the PSG players and staff got very salty about losing the game and didn’t take it like men.

Pedro the goal scorer

Pedro had had an incredible game in Chelsea blue and once again bagged another goal. It was another fine finish but this time he delicately chipped it over the goalkeeper to put Chelsea 3-0 up on the night.

Liam Delap enters for Joao Pedro. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

He’s had an emphatic start to life as a Chelsea player so far, scoring three goals in as many games. And Blues fans will be getting excited about seeing him shine into next season as well hopefully.

Protecting a friend

It turns out that Pedro was simply sticking up for his pal Andrey Santos at the end of the game which led to the scuffles.

As cited on SPTC today, Pedro explains:

“I went to protect Andrey Santos. I saw that the players were surrounding him.

“As a good Brazilian, I went to protect my friend. There were a lot of people and in all that chaos, I was pushed. It’s part of the game. But they don’t know how to lose.”