Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, has blamed referee's decisions for his side's 1-1 draw against Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
Danny Welbeck's stoppage-time equaliser cancelled Romelu Lukaku's opener, denting Chelsea's title hopes as they trail league leaders Manchester City by eight points heading into the new year.
Despite losing some of his players to COVID and injuries, Tuchel was left infuriated with the officiating in last night's game, according to Sky SPorts.
The former Paris Saint-Germain manager cited a penalty call in the second half when Christian Pulisic went to the ground following a tackle by Joel Veltman.
Mike Dean's decision to penalise Mason Mount before he put the ball into the empty Brighton net shortly before the equaliser also left Tuchel displeased.
"Honestly, I would never normally say it, but we have a 100 per cent penalty against Christian Pulisic and we have a 50-50 challenge from Mason Mount right before the equaliser when the ball is going into the net," he said in his post-match press conference.
"Why does the referee even need to whistle before the ball is over the line? We have VAR to check. Why can we not wait and then check it, and then if he decides it's a foul, decide it then?
"Is he so sure? Or does he want to keep the tension up?
"And the penalty is a joke. It's honestly a joke from VAR not to interfere."
Tuchel also made reference to the injuries Recce James and Andreas Christensen suffered in the game.
"We started very, very well, until the injury for Reece James, which was a huge blow. Then we lose Andreas Christensen, who was until then again one of the top players on the pitch.
"At some point, it's too much. That's why I can understand that you struggle if you play against a Brighton side with nothing to lose and playing with confidence."
"We have seven Covid cases, we have four or five key players out for six or more weeks," he said. "How should we compete in a title race?
"Everyone else who has a full squad, and everybody in training every day, has the full power to come through this league.
"We would be stupid to think we can do it out of Covid and injuries and just play, and everybody would be stupid to do it without 23 fit players."
