“A joke”- Tuchel bemused as Chelsea are denied a penalty against Brighton

Thomas Tuchel claims Chelsea should have had a penalty in the 1-1 draw against Brighton

Speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by football.london, Thomas Tuchel has claimed that Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty in the 1-1 draw against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Blues looked like they were going to pick up the victory on Wednesday, only for Danny Welbeck to score an equalizer in added time. While the frontline created enough opportunities to put the game to bed, they were largely wasteful in the final third.

Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount squandered a 2 v 1 situation while Romelu Lukaku also hit the post. However, two decisions went completely against the West London club, which could have resulted in a victory for us. Firstly, there was the penalty call after Christian Pulisic was clearly tackled and brought down in the box. But VAR never asked the on-field referee to take a look at the incident and the Blues’ protests went unheeded.

Following this, there was another incident where Mount won the ball from Joel Veltman and then tucked it into the back of the net. However, the referee blew the whistle for a foul before the Englishman scored. Tuchel was furious about both incidents after the game.

“It is too much; at sometimes it is too much. Brighton had nothing to lose and played with confidence. We had huge, huge chances. Normally I would never say it, but we have a 100 per cent penalty against Pulisic, the 50/50 for Mason Mount to make it 2-0. Why does he need to blow before the ball goes in? How is he so sure? The penalty is a joke, honestly a joke.”

No excuses

While the two decisions may have gone against us, the players should have done better on the night. Pulisic was clearly challenged inside the box, and the pitch referee should have taken a look at it while he should have also waived on play for the Mount incident. These were glaring errors from the officials, but the game should have never been decided on these.

The Blues are running on fumes and that is clear for everyone to see. The lack of grit and tenacity across the pitch are signs of fatigue and tiredness. Playing so many games amidst injury and Covid-19 issues has taken its own toll on this Tuchel-led side, and the manager is right in criticizing the league by forcing us to play through such a rough period.

However, there was no reason to moan about the decisions that went against us. Brighton were more than deserving of the point, but they looked the fresher side since they have been afforded rest in December due to the postponement of their games. 

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It is hard to place the blame on anybody but the Premier League. The title challenge has become about teams that can avoid contracting the Covid-19 disease rather than giving it to the best. Man City and Liverpool are a step above, but Chelsea have not been afforded a level playing field. Thus, it is no surprise that Tuchel is getting frustrated as we are now eight points off the top of the table.