Thomas Tuchel takes the blame as Chelsea are checked

It wasn't how Chelsea wanted to prepare for an FA Cup final, that's for sure.

Fresh from a whirlwind start to life in Premier League football, Mikel Arteta had called Thomas Tuchel's side "the best in the league in the last few months" in the build-up to Wednesday night’s Premier League meeting.

But it was Arteta's Arsenal who left Stamford Bridge with all three points after inflicting just the third defeat of Tuchel's 26-match reign.

It came in disastrous fashion for the hosts with a Jorginho backpass intended for goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga only just prevented from crossing the line only for Emile Smith Rowe to eventually profit with what proved to be the only goal of the game.

Kai Havertz missed a golden chance and Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud both hit the woodwork as the Blues pushed for an equaliser, but it was to no avail as a disjointed performance ended with nothing for the home side.

The result keeps the Gunners' slim hopes of European football alive but also checks Chelsea's momentum, who now will be looking anxiously over their shoulders with West Ham and Liverpool chasing hard in the race for the top four.

With the Wembley showpiece against Leicester on the horizon this weekend, Tuchel made seven changes from the team that beat champions Manchester City on Saturday, a decision he now knows cost his side dear.

"Totally our fault, nobody else's," he said after the game. "We lost, it's totally our responsibility. We had huge chances. We made an own goal more or less. A total gift.

"We weren't on the pitch with the same energy, it wasn't easy to come up with the intensity and passing. We weren't sharp enough and didn't have the same hunger and attitude as we're used to playing with. So it's on us.

"It was maybe too many changes from the last match and I take full responsibility for that. Maybe it's the last wake-up call for all of us."

It was arguably the first blot on an otherwise spotless copybook for the German since replacing Frank Lampard back in January.

Top-four football looks fairly secure - one more win from the remaining two games should seal it - while Saturday's FA Cup final will soon be followed by a Champions League final, where they will face off against City again in an all-English tie in Porto, later this month.

It is the end of what has been a hugely busy climax to a Covid-impacted season with all managers forced into heavy rotation to get their players through to the finish line unscathed.

It cost Tuchel this time though and only ratchets up the pressure more with the stacked schedule unrelenting.

"I felt it a little bit coming in training and I'm a bit unlucky that it's proven today on the pitch," he added. "I regret... we could have, we could have, we could have but we didn't.

"The choices were not so good from my side for the lineup. This is on me. We were unlucky. We can lose in football. We did everything today to lose.

"I'm not happy with my lineup. There were too many changes and I shouldn't have done it like this. It was something in particular but I don't want to tell you."

All attentions now turn to Saturday and the FA Cup final against Brendan Rodgers' Foxes.

Goalkeeper Kepa has started every match for Chelsea in the competition so far, and will do so again this weekend.

"He starts the FA Cup final, and we thought it was a good idea to give him the game before," he added. "We trust him and he deserves it, that is the basis of why we put him in the line-up.

"He deserves it. He is so close and good in training. We wanted to give him some minutes and take both games together. It was an unlucky night for him as well."

Tuchel will hope that his own luck isn't running out at the worst possible time.