Chelsea fans fume as Sky Sports camera cuts away at worst possible time in Barrow thrashing

Chelsea prevailed 5-0 to progress past League 2 side Barrow in the Carabao Cup with Christopher Nkunku stealing the headlines by recording a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge

Christopher Nkunku scored an impressive hat-trick to press his claim for a place in Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea starting XI.

But the Frenchman will hope that he does not see his celebrations ended quite so quickly as by Sky Sports cameras on Tuesday evening. Nkunku rounded of the scoring in Chelsea’s 5-0 win over Barrow in the 75th minute before unleashing his trademark celebration.

While supporters at Stamford Bridge were able to see Nkunku blow up a blue balloon and raise his head to the sky after recording his treble, those watching at home were denied the opportunity. Sky Sports cut away from the former RB Leipzig forward just after he had pulled out his balloon to commemorate his effort.

That left some supporters peeved as they looked to bask in a positive night for the Blues. Fans took to social media to vent their frustration.

One said: “Hate crime when they cut off Nkunku balloon celebration.”

Another added: “No balloon for Nkunku’s first Chelsea hat-trick, game ruined.”

Nkunku opened the scoring after just eight minutes when Joao Felix scooped the ball over Barrow’s backline and into the box. The Frenchman produced a cool finish from the pass before showing creativity of his own minutes later.

The 27-year-old was able to guide Malo Gusto’s cross into the net with a clever touch to double the west London side’s lead after 15 minutes. The Blues had added a third by the half hour mark.

Felix hit the post from a free-kick but saw it fire off goalkeeper Paul Farman into the net. Pedro Neto scored his first Chelsea goal to continue the scoring after half-time.

It was Nkunku who rounded the night off with a final effort however. The Chelsea star was able to win the ball from Farman before scooping it into the net to cement a good night for his team.

It may not yet be enough to win his place in the Blues starting XI however, with Chelsea boss Maresca pleased with how both Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are performing this season.

“The only thing I can judge is that they’re both doing fantastic,” he said. “Not only because they score, but because they work off the ball. The way they sacrifice for the team. This is very important for them. This is a nice problem when you have two strikers that continue to score.”

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