Chelsea lost 0-1 to Manchester City in the 2023-2024 FA Cup semifinals revealed. Chelsea coach, Mauricio Pochettino, believes that Chelsea should have received a penalty in that match.
Yes, Chelsea failed to advance to the 2023-2024 FA Cup final after suffering a 0-1 defeat to Manchester City. The FA Cup semifinal match took place at Wembley Stadium, Saturday 20 April 2024.
In this match, Chelsea had the opportunity to score a goal after Cole Palmer’s free kick hit Jack Grealish’s hand. However, the referee did not consider Jack Grealish to have committed handball, which prevented Chelsea from receiving a penalty.
Towards the end of the second half, Manchester City also secured a place in this season’s FA Cup final. This certainty was obtained after Bernardo Silva (84′) became the hero of the victory for The Citizens – Manchester City’s nickname.
After the match, Mauricio Pochettino also highlighted the referee’s decision not to give Chelsea a penalty. He felt that the referee should have seen the VAR replay to find out more clearly the violation made by Jack Grealish.
“I didn’t have a good view, from the touchline it was difficult to see whether it was a penalty. I spoke to the referee at the end of the match because after Jesus (Perez) and my staff said that it was a penalty,” said Mauricio Pochettino, quoted from the official website Chelsea, Sunday (21/4/2024).
“I said that I don’t blame the referee because he didn’t see it. Just I said to him why not check the penalty on TV, but the advice from VAR said it wasn’t a penalty,” he continued.
Pochettino believes Chelsea should have received a penalty. However, the Argentinian coach said his team still had to continue the match, even though they were not satisfied with the referee’s decision.
If Chelsea had actually got a penalty, the match could have gone differently. No wonder, Pochettino seemed annoyed with this decision which was also the cause of his team’s defeat to Man City.
“Should we get a penalty? I think from what I saw afterwards, (nods yes). But we will continue the game,” concluded Pochettino.
