"100% a penalty" - Thomas Tuchel rues 'joke' VAR's failure to intervene and award Chelsea a spot-kick
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has ripped into the Premier League's VAR management following his side's frustrating 1-1 draw with Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
Danny Welbeck headed home a 91st-minute equalizer to stun the home fans as Chelsea's title aspirations were dealt another blow.
However, the German manager feels his team should have won a penalty when Christian Pulisic was fouled inside the box. The American talisman was brought down by a challenge from Joel Veltman as he tried to dribble his way past a Brighton defender.
🗣 "Is he [referee] so sure? Or does he want to keep the tension up and the penalty it's a joke, it's honestly a joke not to interfere for VAR." 😡
Thomas Tuchel has a few complaints about some incidents that went against Chelsea tonight https://t.co/PsdOn7gAgb
However, an entanglement of legs resulted in Pulisic going down, but the referee waved away all the penalty appeals and just gave a corner.
Tuchel had a different assessment of the situation in his post-match interview. He said:
"I would never usually say it but we have 100 per cent a penalty against Christian Pulisic, a 50/50 challenge from Mason Mount before the equaliser."
Mason Mount had the ball in the back of the net in the dying stages of normal time but the referee blew the whistle for foul play in the build-up.
The Chelsea youngster nicked the ball off Veltman and slotted into an empty net with Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez off his line. But the goal was ruled out as the match official adjudged Mount to have fouled Veltman.
On both occasions, the VAR wasn't consulted, which irked Tuchel, who gave scathing remarks in his post-match comments. He said:
"The ball is going into the net, why does he need to whistle before the ball is over the line? Why? We have VAR to check, why can we not wait? If he decides then it is a foul then decide it but why is he so sure? Does he want to keep the tension up?
"The penalty is a joke, honestly a joke, not to interfere from VAR."
Chelsea dropped points for the third time in their last four Premier League games and next play fellow title contenders Liverpool on Sunday.
Chelsea's title hopes in tatters following latest setback
With a third stalemate in four games, Chelsea now find themselves eight points behind runaway leaders Manchester City.
FT: Chelsea 1-1 Brighton
Chelsea drop two more points in the title race after conceding a 91st minute equalizer 🙃 https://t.co/j4YR60272B
Having led the table for several weeks, the Blues are now in second place, with the possibility of dropping further down after the Liverpool clash on Sunday.
While the European champions still have 18 games left into their campaign, they will be left playing catch-up in the second-half if they continue to drop points like this.
Tricky days ahead for the Blues.