Tuchel bemoans VAR involvement and says Chelsea were ‘unlucky’ in FA Cup final

Thomas Tuchel believes Chelsea were unlucky to lose the FA Cup final against Leicester City

Speaking after his team lost the FA Cup final (h/t The Independent), Thomas Tuchel said that Chelsea ‘would have deserved to win’ the game but were ‘unlucky’ against Leicester City.

The Blues had more possession and more attempts throughout the course of the game. But one shot on target was all the Foxes needed to win as a Youri Tielemans strike was the difference between the two sides at full-time. (h/t WhoScored)

In the build-up to that goal, the ball seemingly touched Ayoze Perez’s hand. But there was no intervention by VAR and the goal stood, something that baffled the German gaffer.

“The players said straight away it was a handball. So now for the second game in a row, there was a handball against us, and VAR is not interfering. Against Arsenal, there was one on the line, and again today, and they are very decisive. I’m not an expert in handball anymore, I don’t know when it’s handball or not. I don’t know anymore when they need to punish it or it’s OK to play with the hand.”

Chelsea have luck to blame

That 63rd-minute goal wasn’t the only place Chelsea would feel hard done by VAR. A late 88th-minute equalizing goal was then ruled out because Chilwell was fractionally offside before his ball into the box hit Wes Morgan on its way into the goal.

Talk about luck… a freak strike from the Belgian midfielder was all that separated the two teams in a game which, at least, deserved to go to extra time. And Tuchel aired similar views, citing the Blues as ‘unlucky’ on the day.

“We were unlucky today. But there’s never any guarantee you’ll end up with a trophy. I think we would have deserved to win but we have to accept defeat.”

More Chelsea News:

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• Napoli not interested in signing Chelsea loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko on a permanent deal

Chelsea’s season now hangs in the balance. Losing even one of their next 3 games could have serious implications on their European endeavours with the Blues still in the top-four race before the Champions League final against Manchester City.