Thomas Tuchel has acknowledged that he felt relieved to have been on the right side of a contentious VAR decision in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over West Ham.
Kai Havertz scored what ended up being the game-winning goal for Chelsea in injury time, but West Ham immediately went down the other end in stoppage time, and Maxwel Cornet blasted home into an empty net after goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was left on the ground following a collision with Jarrod Bowen.
The contact was undoubtedly minimal, but VAR deemed it sufficient to overturn the goal, giving Chelsea the victory. Following the referee controversy that put him in hot water following last month’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham, it seemed like justice to Tuchel.
“It was a clear foul on the goalkeeper,” he told BBC Sport. “I had doubts about the first one [West Ham’s opener] – but I will not comment. Last time I got punished with huge fines. You give your opinion. You will not be fined.”
Tuchel added in his press conference: “It went in our favour, and there’s a reason it went in our favour. In my opinion, it is a foul. I will not comment anymore, but what happened against Tottenham was so obvious, and I paid a lot of money for commenting, so I will not do it.”
