Chelsea lost by one goal against Manchester City, thus losing their chance of retaining the FA Cup this season. According to Metro.co.uk, Benitez considers that the match was lost not because of his teams’ poor performance, but because of some major gaffs made by the referee. The Blues got some pretty poor decisions from the match official, which were perhaps the extra bit of luck City needed to win.
After the match, Chelsea’s coach said that his biggest frustration was with the penalty his team should have received rather than with Aguero’s tough challenge on Luiz. The Citizens will now face Wigan in a months’ time with a great chance of winning the FA Cup.
Referee Chris Foy was the target of several post match comments that came from Benitez, who looked more frustrated with the fact that the match was poorly managed by officials rather than the fact that his team lost. The Spaniard was outraged by the fact that Foy failed to penalize Kompany’s challenge on Torres, which should have meant a penalty for the Blues and probably a red card for City’s captain.
The fact that Aguero should have been sent off as well was not that big of a concern for Benitez. Chelsea’s manager said that he had no reason to be mad at the Argentinian striker. He also said that he holds no grudge against City’s player because his previous conduct has never shown an aggressive side. A few seconds of anger are not that out of the ordinary during such an important match as the one between Chelsea and City.
City dominated most of the game and Chelsea only got a glimpse of hope through Demba Ba’s great goal but sadly it was just not enough as they could not get the equalizer despite throwing on Torres with their last throw of the dice. Benitez now has to pick his squad up in time for the key Premier League matches against Fulham and Liverpool before the Blues face Basel in the Europa League semi-final first leg.