- Marc Cucurella changed his boots after falling twice in the early minutes at Spurs
- He and Chelsea bounced back after that to claim a 4-3 win in a thrilling encounter
- Cucurella later shared a message with fans – and Cole Palmer reacted to the gaffes
Marc Cucurella has binned the boots which saw him slip twice in Chelsea’s 4-3 win over Tottenham on Sunday.
The left-back was mortified when Tottenham raced into an early 2-0 lead as Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski capitalised on his tumbles.
That saw the Spaniard hastening to the touchline to swap out the cursed boots and equip his feet with a more fitting pair as Jamie Carragher pilloried him for ’embarrassing’ and ‘schoolboy’ errors on Sky Sports’ commentary.
His blushes were spared after Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer with two penalties, and Enzo Fernandez flipped the game on its head, but the damage was done.
And so he jettisoned the guilty kickers after the match, sharing a photo of them in the bin on Instagram and issuing a two-word message to fans.
‘Sorry Blues,’ the left-back wrote on his Instagram Stories page, in a post that was quickly deleted.
Marc Cucurella has binned the boots that saw him slip twice in Chelsea’s 4-3 win over Spurs
The Spaniard tumbled twice early on and Spurs went on to score after both errors, going up 2-0
After the game Cucurella shared a photo of the boots in the bin with the caption: ‘Sorry Blues’
His antics certainly made Palmer, the star of the day with his stunning panenka penalty, chuckle.
In a post-match interview, Palmer asked Cucurella where his boots were, and laughed as the defender told him of their fate.
Cucurella has been having a much improved season compared to last – besides that brilliant Euro 2204 campaign with Spain – and quickly made amends for his misfortune.
Equipped with his new boots, he provided the assist for Jadon Sancho to get back in the game, although the winger did most of the work with a mazy dribble and bullet finish into the bottom corner from outside the area.
He had first lost his balance just five minutes into the showdown and seconds later, Solanke raced in at the front post to touch a cross beyond Robert Sanchez.
Six minutes later, Cucurella was found guilty of the same mistake after toppling over and Kulusevski punished Chelsea by squeezing his effort home.
Desperately, the 26-year-old then raced over to the Chelsea technical area and pulled on the change of boots, shrugging his shoulders in frustration.
Carragher was left bemused, saying: ‘Cucurella’s coming to the bench, don’t blame anyone else – it’s your own fault, son!
Cole Palmer was left amused by Cucurella’s decision to discard the boots after the match
He was again the hero of the day for Chelsea as he scored two of their four comeback goals
‘Absolute schoolboy stuff. Embarrassing. He slips again. Look at him shrugging his shoulders. Did he not do a warm-up?’
Commentator Peter Drury couldn’t help but crack a festive joke, telling viewers: ‘Well, it’s pantomime season, and like Cinderella, Cucurella needs a slipper that fits!’
Spain international Cucurella has been almost ever-present for the Blues this season, missing only one Premier League game through suspension.
He joined the club in deal worth more than £60million from Brighton in August 2022 and has made 74 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal.
