'Unforgivable from Joao Pedro' - Chelsea fans rage at £60m man and say striker has 'attitude problem' after red card in Champions League win over Benfica

Enzo Maresca's side beat Benfica 1-0 thanks to a first-half own goal to make it an unhappy return to Stamford Bridge for former boss Jose Mourinho. Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho combined to force defender Richard Rios into an own goal which provided to be decisive. Yet it was a tough night for Pedro who arrived as a substitute in the second-half as Maresca sought the security of a second goal. The Brazilian went into the book within minutes of his arrival and then received another yellow card with just seconds remaining for a high boot.

Pedro raised his hands to supporters as he walked off the pitch, seemingly by way of apology, but his actions have certainly not gone down well with supporters.

Chelsea fan @StamfordBrigade posted on X: “Unforgivable for Joao Pedro. he has an attitude problem. he came on in 60th minute. unforgivable to get 2 yellow's as a sub.”

Supporter @KatlegoPodile also criticised the Brazilian: "Joao Pedro is unnecessary dirty man. Elbows players for nothing lol. That second yellow was soft though."

There was some sympathy for Pedro from @DONeill90 who posted: “Joao Pedro has been sent off for an elbow that wasn't and a high foot that made no contact with the player. Misses the Ajax game as a result. What a joke.”

But @CFCKhris wasn't surprised to see Pedro sent off, posting: "I knew Joao Pedro red card wasn’t long before it came. Otamendi kept working on him, intentionally provoking him and it worked."

And @Itengozi called on Chelsea to sanction their summer signing: "Fine Joao Pedro and fine him hard. This is no longer funny. You cannot have 3 consecutive red cards in as many games."

Chelsea's disciplinary record does not make for good reading this season, with Pedro's red card meaning the Blues have now had players sent off in three of their last four games in all competitions. Maresca's side saw Trevoh Chalobah see red last time out against Burnley, while goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was handed his marching orders early on in the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

The incidents saw Maresca urge his players to stop making such mistakes ahead of the match-up with Benfica, telling reporters: "For sure, you can't continue to make mistakes. They are game-changing mistakes. After that, we try to adjust with Josh [Acheampong] inside after being ill for a week. Our two central defenders were Josh and Jorrel [Hato], who do not have many games in the Premier League."

Meanwhile, former Arsenal defender and television pundit Martin Keown feels the sendings off could prove costly. He told TNT Sports: "It's ill discipline and that's something you have to eradicate. It's going to cost you eventually."

Maresca was quizzed on Pedro's red card but made light of the sending off after the final whistle. He told TNT Sports: "The good thing is that we are improving, now we can win with 10 players! I think he didn't touch, the second yellow card he didn't touch, but probably the dynamic, the foul is a dangerous one and they gave him a red card."

The Chelsea boss was also happy to see his side pick up their first Champions League win of the campaign: "The effort was very good. The first half I think we were much, much better compared to the second half. We created some chances, we scored a goal. Then second half we dropped a little bit but the effort of the team was very, very good."

Pedro's red card means he will be hit with a one-match ban and miss Chelsea's next Champions League match against Ajax at Stamford Bridge on October 22. He will, however, be available to feature at the weekend when Chelsea return to action against Premier League leaders Liverpool on home soil. The Blues should head into the match with confidence after beating Benfica, while Liverpool slipped to a Champions League defeat to Galatasaray and have now lost two games in a row.