Nicolas Jackson did Chelsea team-mate Enzo Fernandez a huge favour - but inadvertently stopped one gutted fan from scooping more than £1,000.
Players are the last people you’d expect to be killjoys amid goal celebrations. But quick-thinking Jackson was just that after Fernandez’s winner in Sunday night’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Tottenham.
After being 2-0 down early on, Argentine midfielder Fernandez gave his side a 3-2 lead in the 73rd minute and understandably wheeled away in sheer joy towards the jubilant Chelsea fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As he did so, the record-breaking £106.8m signing started to peel his shirt over his head. But, as Fernandez attempted to complete the process, thoughtful team-mate Jackson was behind him, grabbing the back of the shirt to keep it down in all the hysteria.
Knowing his pal would gain an instant yellow card for removing his jersey, Jackson’s smart-thinking gained plenty of love on social media.
It’s not something you often see on a football pitch and it could save Fernandez a suspension later down the line with players picking up a one-match ban after five yellow cards.
However, one fan on X wasn’t as impressed by Jackson’s antics. He had placed a ten-leg bet at odds of 200/1 and had seen nine out of nine come good. With a fiver bunged on, he stood to collect £1,005 if the last piece of the jigsaw fell into place.
Other parts of his wager included both teams to score, Romeo Lavia to get a yellow card, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie to commit fouls. But the last segment was Fernandez to be booked, too, meaning the gutted supporter was left empty-handed.
More than two and a half million people have seen his message on X which simply stated ‘all timer’ alongside a split image of his coupon with the pic of Jackson pulling down Fernandez’s shirt.