Mauricio Pochettino refrained from criticising the match officials after his Chelsea side suffered a humbling 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
The Blues found themselves trailing at halftime due to goals from Diogo Jota and Conor Bradley, with Dominik Szoboszlai adding a third shortly after the interval for the hosts. Although Christopher Nkunku briefly revived Chelsea’s hopes, Luis Diaz’s goal in the 79th minute dashed any possibility of an improbable comeback.
Despite the comprehensive result, controversy arose with Chelsea being denied two penalty shouts, neither of which were awarded by VAR. However, Pochettino refrained from assigning blame post-match.
“It’s not a final excuse. They deserved to win. They were better than us. But to talk about this, I don’t want to talk about that because it’s part of football. They were better than us from the first action. In this kind of game, you need to say ‘well done Liverpool.”
Wednesday night’s match at Anfield served as a dress rehearsal for next month’s Carabao Cup final, which will see the two sides, Liverpool and Chelsea, face off at Wembley.
Pochettino cautioned the Blues stating that they must significantly elevate their performance ahead of the rematch if they hope to have any chance of lifting the trophy ahead of their rivals. However, he emphasised that the upcoming match would be different from the one at Anfield, particularly since it will take place on neutral grounds.