Chelsea crashed out of the FA Cup after losing 2-1 to Man City.
Rafa Benitez says the decision not to give his side a penalty was crucial in the outcome of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
Fernando Torres was through on goal and appeared to be pulled down by City captain Vincent Kompany as holders Chelsea crashed out 2-1 at Wembley.
And Benitez said he was disappointed as it was clearly a penalty, but they must now pick themselves up for Wednesday’s derby with Fulham.
He said: “If we had scored another goal we would have been back in the game so the penalty not given was a big difference.
“It’s important because at that time it offered us a chance and it could have been a red or yellow card.
“After that the reaction of the team was really good. Fulham is now a massive game. We’ll try to keep the players thinking about the good things we did in the second half.”
Goals either side of half-time from Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero did the damage before Demba Ba pulled one back as Chelsea suffered their first outright FA Cup defeat since 2008.
They are still in the hunt for Europa League glory facing Swiss side Basel in the semi-final, and are chasing a top four spot in the Premier League.
Photo courtesy of Elb-Sohn via Wiki Commons, with thanks.
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