Liam Rosenior defended his gamble of starting Filip Jörgensen after a disastrous error from the goalkeeper sparked Chelsea’s collapse against Paris Saint-Germain in their 5-2 first-leg defeat in the Champions League last 16.
The game was in the balance before a thrilling surge from PSG allowed them to establish a commanding lead before the second leg at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.
It came after Jörgensen, seeking to establish himself as Chelsea’s No 1 after Rosenior made the big call to drop Robert Sánchez, had a pass intercepted by Bradley Barcola and Vitinha made it 3‑2 with 16 minutes left.
“Players make mistakes,” Rosenior said. “Filip’s not the first one and that’s part of football. Credit to him, he held his hands up in the dressing room.
“I make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes they’re more costly. This is one of those moments. What we have to do for Rob and for Filip and for all of the players is look after each other. This is a big test of our character.”
Chelsea’s discipline faded after Vitinha’s goal, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia extending the lead with two late goals. Enzo Fernández remonstrated with Jörgensen after another shoddy piece of distribution and Pedro Neto escaped picking up his second red card in his past three games after shoving a ballboy.
“I want to apologise to the ballboy,” Neto said. “I have already spoken with him. With the emotions of the game, we were losing, I wanted to pick up the ball, he was getting the ball, I gave him a little push.
“I’m not like this. It was in the heat of the moment. I gave him my shirt as well. I’m really, really sorry.”
Rosenior did not see the incidents involving Fernández and Neto. “If there was anything from our side that was wrong or out of order, I apologise on behalf of the club,” he said. “We’ve spoken a lot about discipline, staying calm in the moment. It’s on me to find the answer.”
