Thomas Tuchel defended Edouard Mendy after he enraged West Ham
(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)Thomas Tuchel has denied that Maxwel Cornet’s late equaliser should have stood after the incident with Jarrod Bowen in the build up making Edouard Mendy doubtful for the trip to Dinamo Zagreb.
West Ham thought they secured a last-minute point after Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell’s goals put the Blues in the lead.
David Moyes fumed at the referee after the match, calling the decision to disallow their goal ‘scandalous’ but Tuchel saw it very differently and claimed his goalkeeper is now injured.
“He was in a lot of pain and we have to see,” Tuchel said after the match at Stamford Bridge. “It obviously went in our favour. There is a reason I think it went in our favour. It’s my opinion and I don’t know if everyone shares the opinion that it’s very clear it’s a foul.
“The first goal we concede is very similar to the situation we had against Tottenham but I leave it to you to decide if this goal should stand and whether this situation isn’t the same situation as against Tottenham.
“I will not comment anymore because what happened against Tottenham was so obvious and I paid a lot of money for commenting, so I will not do it again.”
Adding about Mendy’s performance in general after he was arguably at fault for Michail Antonio’s goal: “It’s too early to comment on that. I think at the moment he is a bit unlucky in what he is doing.
“In training, he is fantastic and he is in general a very calm and self-reflective guy who is aware that he lacks a little bit of luck at the moment. Things do not go in his favour.
“If he has maybe a situation where his action isn’t 100% clear, he gets punished for it massively. He is just in this moment and it feels like it’s not so much his fault. I have the feeling because he tries everything, is very calm and focused. We will keep on supporting him.”
Chelsea’s new striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang was watching in west London after his £12million transfer from Barcelona on transfer deadline day.
The 33-year-old is expected to train tomorrow but won’t be ready for the midweek Champions League clash.
“Yes, he trains tomorrow but I cannot tell you if he trains with full contact or individually,” he added. “We’ll need to see. He has the mask and the doctors tell me the mask is good and he feels comfortable with it.
“So he would be ok but we need to check it and we need to check it with no contact, half-contact, and then full contact. We need to see how he feels with it. It’s too early to make a prediction but he’ll be in training tomorrow morning and we’ll see.”
