Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta refused to blame referee Anthony Taylor for his side's FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal.
The official harshly gave Mateo Kovacic a second yellow card in the 73rd minute and left the Blues with an uphill task of overturning a 2-1 deficit with just over 15 minutes remaining.
Christian Pulisic had given Frank Lampard's side an early lead but Azpilicueta conceded a penalty after dragging back Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The striker converted the spot-kick before scoring the winner mid-way through the second half.
The Blues' skipper was forced to watch most of the game from the sidelines after he went off with a hamstring injury just before half-time.
While the big calls went against his side, Azpilicueta insisted he and his team-mates only had themselves to blame.
'A lot of times there were 50-50's (that went Arsenal's way) and we had the same in 2017 - but we have to look further than this,' Azpilicueta told chelseafc.com.
'We have to look at ourselves. We know two weeks ago when we played against Man United (in the semi-final), we really controlled it.
'It's painful and a tough one to take. Obviously when you lose a final, it's always painful.
'We started the game well and scored an early goal which normally gives a confidence to build on but we didn't capitalise on it.
'We dropped our level a little bit and we were punished.'
AFArsenalFan
1101
Finally someone shows that he’s mature and not a sore loser to just blame it on the ref.Thats y he’s Chelsea captain. And Anthony Tylor made no mistake in the game. It was Var problem to not check the red card so don’t blame the ref. For Martinez handball this is real photo.
Tamkeen
534
Btw Martinez actually kept the ball in. Many people thought it was out and that is because they showed the replay during the game and that's the broadcasters fault. Also Kovacic red card was a 2nd yellow card and that is not checked by VAR which absurd because its a game changing factor. And this game did have poor refereeing both from the referee and VAR and not just this game. We see this quality of refereeing way too much in England and it shows that English referees are fit to ref this type of competitive football. That's why there was no English referees in the world cup. Congratulations to Arsenal and let's look forward to next season because it looks exciting... Btw Martinez actually kept the ball in. Many people thought it was out and that is because they showed the replay during the game and that's the broadcasters fault. Also Kovacic red card was a 2nd yellow card and that is not checked by VAR which absurd because its a game changing factor. And this game did have poor refereeing both from the referee and VAR and not just this game. We see this quality of refereeing way too much in England and it shows that English referees are fit to ref this type of competitive football. That's why there was no English referees in the world cup. Congratulations to Arsenal and let's look forward to next season because it looks exciting...
Nesaiknruy_Legend
417
We all know the ref was a joke. Anthony Taylor should never be allowed to officiate Chelsea games hes clearly bias against us no matter who we played yesterday he would be against us. But thay out the way they did play slightly better. It wasnt a huge mismatch but they wanted it more, desperation for Europa League spot while our players didnt even seem to care probably lax from the fact we got into UCL. End of the day they deserve it but the referee made it feel like they didnt. He killed any possible chance of there being an equal game and possibly a comeback later on...
KingJerryTheGreat
376
Now there's nothing left for Chelsea to change because they lost and it's only the fans not accepting the defeat. Now they gonna face Bayern Munich in UCL and don't know what kinda excuse they gonna give this time round.....
The_Red_Devil
131
You shouldn't! Referee made some bad calls, yes! But the only one you should blame is yourselves. Arsenal was the better team, hands down. Chelsea defense was so naive and all over the place. Midfield couldn't hold posession at all.