After Chelsea drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge, Thomas Tuchel has offered a bizarre excuse for Jorginho’s error against Manchester United. After Jorginho accidently allowed United to score an easy opening goal, Tuchel claimed that he was “disturbed” by the floodlights.
Chelsea missed the chance to restore their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Manchester United, visiting Stamford Bridge with 40,000+ fans in attendance, held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on Sunday (football news).
And part of the reason they fell short was Chelsea and Italy star Jorginho, whose slip-up cost them United’s goal.
But while coach Thomas Tuchel reacted evenly to the overall performance, he defended his captain for the night somewhat bizarrely.
Tuchel told reporters pressing him to comment on Chelsea’s performance: “I am absolutely happy with what the players put in.
“We had so many high ball recoveries, so can we maybe create more chances from this superiority and ball wins? Yes, maybe.
“So the energy is right, the quality is right, and the result is the result. Today it wasn’t in our favour. It should’ve been but we have to accept.”
Thomas Tuchel Has Offered a Bizarre Excuse for Jorginho’s Error
Manchester United, the visitors, took the lead largely because of fortunate circumstances, despite floundering in the ball possession.
Jadon Sancho capitalised on an uncharacteristic mistake from Jorginho, who mistakenly passed to the youth, leading to an opening goal.
With 50 minutes on the clock, Bruno Fernandes sent a looped ball clear into Chelsea’s half of the pitch.
The ball dropped to Jorginho near the centre-circle. But he produced a poor first touch that allowed Sancho to steal in and race through on Edouard Mendy’s goal.
Sancho then used Marcus Rashford as a decoy before rolling the ball into the net. And while Mendy and Chelsea defenders ran about to stop him, Sancho left Jorginho with his head in his hands.
However, the Italian international made amends for his error by equalising from the penalty spot, after a Manchester United foul.
But now, Chelsea boss Tuchel has come out to defend Jorginho after the game…rather bizarrely. The Blues boss insists the brightness of the lights in the home stadium affected Jorginho’s concentration in that crucial moment.
Instead, Thomas Tuchel praised the midfielder for showing character in scoring the Blues’ penalty: “He misjudged the situation and I think he was heavily disturbed from the lights. It happens.”
The German head coach then also hailed the midfielder for his “courage” after a testing evening against the Red Devils: “It takes a lot of courage and personality to not be affected during the match and to have the courage to take the penalty. I am very happy that he did it.”
