Tuchel criticises Chelsea man for their ‘huge disadvantage’; calls team-mate ‘one of world’s best’

Thomas Tuchel has condemned Conor Gallagher for getting a red card and putting Chelsea at a ‘huge disadvantage’ against Leicester, while also praising one of his Blues team-mates.

Chelsea made it two wins out of four in the Premier League by beating Leicester 2-1 at home on Saturday. That is despite them going down to 10 men in the 28th minute.

Gallagher picked up a yellow card early on. And he got a second not long afterwards when bringing down Harvey Barnes amid a Leicester counter attack.

He mistimed the challenge and this gave the referee no choice but to show the red card.

Chelsea fans will have been worried about the Foxes dominating after Gallagher’s dismissal. But the 10 men of Chelsea held their own and even hit the post through Reece James.

Leicester had two good chances before half time, which fell to Jamie Vardy and Timothy Castagne. However, Vardy could only drag his effort wide and Castagne was kept out by Edouard Mendy.

Raheem Sterling got his first Chelsea goal to put Tuchel’s side in front early on in the second half.

Marc Cucurella played the ball into Sterling, and Daniel Amartey dropped off the Englishman. This encouraged Sterling to shoot and his effort deflected off Amartey before looping over Danny Ward, into the far corner.

Sterling makes it two for Chelsea

Sterling got his second goal in the 63rd minute. Kai Havertz and Reece James linked up well down the right, before the latter put in a deadly cross.

Sterling was there to meet it at the back post and finish from just a few yards out.

Leicester pulled one back through Harvey Barnes as he raced into the box and beat Mendy at his near post. The visitors hit the crossbar late on but couldn’t get an equaliser, with Chelsea picking up the three points.

Tuchel was watching the game from the stands. He received a one-match ban for his actions in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

Following the win over Leicester, Tuchel was asked about his experience in the stands.

Thomas Tuchel reacts to touchline ban

“It was a good view, a lot of support around me and I have the experience now so there’s no need for a repetition,” he told BBC Match of the Day (via BBC Sport).

The manager then criticised Gallagher for putting Chelsea at a ‘huge disadvantage’.

“You can’t make the [second] challenge if you have a yellow card after 20 or 25 minutes,” Tuchel said. “The challenge was a clear yellow card and gave us a huge disadvantage. There was no reason to make this decision [from Gallagher].”

Tuchel added: “In the last 15 minutes, once or twice we were lucky to not concede an equaliser.”

Attention then turned to veteran centre-back Thiago Silva. Tuchel thinks the Brazilian is ‘one of the best in the world’ when having to defend from deep.

“It suited him. He likes sitting deep and defending the box – he’s maybe one of the best in the world to defend in the box. We played a back five in the second half to not get caught,” Tuchel said.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have reportedly changed their minds over the future of a player, leaving Spurs and Aston Villa disappointed.