Chelsea bounced back from their 3-0 defeat to Leeds United last week with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Leicester City at Stamford Bridge with 10 Men.
Conor Gallagher was shown his second yellow card for the game after a reckless tackle on Harvey Barnes after the England international was played through on goal after a poor Corner from Chelsea.
The blues had to play the remaining 60th minute with a man less. But Thomas Tuchel’s side shows passion, strength, and the reason they should not be taken for granted in the race for the Premier League.
Raheem Sterling scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea to give the blues the lead right after the break with a stunning strike just outside the penalty box. He extended Chelsea’s lead in the 63rd minute. The Foxes pulled one back through Harvey Barnes in the 66th minute.
Chelsea could maintain their one-goal lead despite constant pressure from Leicester City.
However, Thomas Tuchel disclosed he had a brief conversation with Conor Gallagher after the game, but admitted that he had to take full responsibility for his mistake.
What did Thomas Tuchel say about Conor Gallagher after the red card?
Speaking at a press conference after the Chelsea win, Thomas Tuchel said when asked if he had spoken with Conor Gallagher after the red card: “Today is he is responsible for what he did. Of course, he knows it was a huge mistake. We spoke briefly after the game and things like this can happen. It’s not purely his fault alone because it’s a set-piece for us and it’s sloppy how we take set-pieces at the moment.
“We lack belief and precision. We can speak it out clearly. It’s not good enough how we take set-pieces at the moment and, on top of it, we give chances away. We are sloppy on the coverage, and bad with the decision making how we cover the set-pieces. We have to stop doing this and improve immediately. We are on it with the team and I don’t know why it happened again.
“At the end of this chain is a decision that brings such a huge disadvantage after 25 minutes. It’s a terrible decision from Conor, and of course, he is upset. Everybody was upset at this moment because it almost kills the whole football match.”
Thomas Tuchel also warned his players against committing unnecessary fouls that can cause the team after stats shows Chelsea had already been given three red cards in their last three Premier League matches.
Thomas Tuchel added: “Don’t include mine. It was after the final whistle and the other, ones to be precise, were two yellows, yellow-red. Two of them totally were unnecessary, and that is part of the analysis of the situation.
“Twice it is absolutely unnecessary and to give such a huge disadvantage, we have to stop doing this. We cannot behave like this if we are on yellow cards. We have to learn quick. This must be the absolute exception to the rule and cannot be repeated.”
