"Maybe they were Arsenal fans" - Tuchel responds brilliantly as Chelsea superstar gets booed at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel gave a dismissive response when asked about Blues fans booing Romelu Lukaku during their 4-2 loss against Arsenal in the Premier League.

The German was left furious with his side as they slumped to their third consecutive home defeat in a lackluster display against their London rivals on Wednesday.

After coming from behind and equalizing twice in a pulsating first half that ended 2-2, the Blues were undone by second half strikes from Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka. Timo Werner and Cesar Azpilicueta had scored for Chelsea in the first half while Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe got one goal each for the Gunners.

Chelsea have now conceded 11 goals in those three successive Stamford Bridge losses.

One player who again became a target for criticism was Blues striker Lukaku. He was put in the starting line-up by Tuchel despite enduring a disappointing return to English football.

He had joined Chelsea after a club-record £97.5 million transfer from Inter Milan last summer. However, the high-profile move hasn't worked out for either party.

The 28-year-old has scored just 12 times in his 38 appearances for the Blues, since his return to Stamford Bridge. He was taken off just after the hour mark in the Arsenal clash following an incredibly ineffective display.

Lukaku managed just 12 accurate passes and was dispossessed four times. Also, there were no shots on target from him.

Boos could clearly be heard as the Belgian left the pitch, but Tuchel did his best to avoid the issue in his post-match press conference, saying, as per Football.London,

"Maybe it was the Arsenal fans."

When the reporter insisted that the jeering came from the home fans, the 48-year-old replied.

"Ok, you heard it, so you need to ask the people."

---

Tuchel criticizes Chelsea players following Arsenal defeat

The Blues boss couldn't hide his frustration at conceding four goals to a side that had only previously netted once in their previous three encounters.

Arsenal's goals mostly came from individual errors. An underhit backpass from Andreas Christensen for the first and captain Azpilicueta giving away a needless penalty towards the end. Nketiah's second goal, in the 57th minute, also came about due to a defensive error by Malang Sarr.

Tuchel was clearly furious about this, stating:

"Look at the penalty, and it is an unbelievable goal from our ball possession. There are no tactics behind that. We have three ball losses in 10 seconds. Then we do a foul where there's not even the slightest danger. We foul a person, it is a penalty, and we rob ourselves of six minutes for an equaliser. What is there to analyse? There's nothing to analyse."

When asked if his side lacked concentration, Tuchel replied:

"It must be something, but it is also possible to don't do it because we proved it in the last three matches, and we thought we learned our lesson from Brentford and Real Madrid but obviously not."