Thomas Tuchel celebrates with Tammy Abraham after his goal was enough to put Chelsea through to the 6th round of the FA Cup. (GETTY Images)
Speaking to Chelsea TV (h/t Metro) after the match, Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea lacked ‘intensity’ and were ‘lucky’ against Barnsley in their 5th-round FA Cup win on Thursday.
Tuchel’s side needed a 64th-minute Tammy Abraham goal to see off their opponents on the night. Chelsea made 11 changes to their starting XI from their 2-1 win against Sheffield United in the league last week.
The Blues dominated possession but had just one shot on target the whole game. Barnsley, on the other hand, looked more threatening in front of goal but Chelsea hung on for the win.
And the German boss thinks that his side were lucky to come away with the win. He praised goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and goal-scorer Abraham for doing their part in the defence.
“In the end, we were lucky in some situations, we have to admit. But Kepa saved us twice in the first half, Tammy saved a big one on the line.”
Tuchel then highlighted Chelsea’s mistake. The former PSG boss was unhappy with his side’s physical game and did not like them dropping too deep.
“…we were again too deep, too passive. We could not cope so well with the physical game, the first challenges, the second balls, we can do a lot better.”
The Chelsea boss explained that Chelsea became too passive and invited pressure. This led to them having to defend frantically in the last 15 minutes.
“We slowed down the game a little bit too much, the passing intensity was not high enough.”
Nevertheless, the Blues came away with an important win in a prestigious competition. Chelsea are now scheduled to take on Premier League strugglers Sheffield United in the quarter-final of the FA Cup in March.
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