Tuchel reacts to Chelsea’s shocking defeat

The Blues boss’ unbeaten start ended through an unexpected 5-2 thrashing from 19th-placed West Brom in the Premier League.

Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea were ‘punished hard’ for their ‘big mistakes’ after losing 5-2 to West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

The German’s 14-match unbeaten start as Chelsea manager, along with the club’s run of seven consecutive clean sheets, ended in humiliating fashion by the hands of West Brom, who sit second-bottom in the Premier League.

Christian Pulisic’s opener had put the Blues in control, but Thiago Silva’s dismissal changed the tide of the game.

Matheus Pereira and Callum Robinson’s braces, along with a Mbaye Diagne goal, sealed West Brom a stunning win, despite Mason Mount scoring a late consolation goal for the Blues.

“It is two games, 11 v 11 and then 11 v 10,” Tuchel told BBC Sport.

“There is no need to concede five goals when you have our quality, that’s for sure but we are all in on that. Myself included.

“We could not adapt to the situation which is a surprise as we were leading. We are normally confident enough to defend but we were sloppy and kept making big mistakes. We were punished hard and it’s tough to digest.”

36 – At 36 years and 193 days, Thiago Silva is the oldest Chelsea player to be sent off in a Premier League game, overtaking John Terry against Sunderland in May 2016. Unwise. https://t.co/8LPpHLdzQl

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 3, 2021

On Silva’s dismissal, Tuchel said: “I didn’t see the red card.

“I saw the two big mistakes in our own half before the yellow cards. That is not typical for us, we were rusty. We made easy mistakes and were punished. It was totally our fault.

“I did not see that second half coming. We tried to give a bit of security with a back three, but we were never in a flow. We had some chances but we didn’t defend well.”