Sarri explains why he’s confident Chelsea can reach Carabao Cup final

Maurizio Sarri hit out at the decision to award Spurs a penalty via VAR as his Chelsea side fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, but insisted he saw enough positives in his side’s performance to give them confidence for the return fixture.

Chelsea fell behind in the first half after Harry Kane converted the spot kick, and despite having more shots and possession than the hosts, the Blues couldn’t get back on level terms.

Blues boss Sarri told Sky Sports: “A few minutes ago I watched the video from our camera. It was offside. Our camera was in line with Harry Kane.

“Offside with the head, the knee. Offside. It was really important the linesman carried on running, he had a big impact on our defenders.

“I don’t think English referees are able to use the system.

“If you are not sure with the system, you have to follow the ball and at the end of the action decide. But he stopped it and didn’t follow the ball – for our defenders it was offside. I don’t know about the goalkeeper but sure the defenders.

“I think they have to study the system.

“It’s very strange in the Premier League there isn’t VAR and in Carabao Cup there is the system. It’s very strange for us, the players and referees.”

Despite the defeat, Sarri said he was pleased with Chelsea‘s performance.

“We played very well with a great level of application. We played against a very good team but defended very well.

“We played into the opposition box 70 balls – Tottenham had 10 balls into our box. We had 17 or 18 shots, nine on target. I think we played very well. In this moment it is not easy to score but I am happy with my players.”

And Sarri told BBC Radio 5 Live that he is confident his team can overturn the deficit in the second leg to reach the final.

He said: “We also played very well in the first half because we conceded little to the opponent. In this match we played very well for 90 minutes with good continuity. With this kind of performance in the second leg we can win.”

 

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