Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta says they can't hide behind the performance of ref Anthony Taylor after their FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.
The official harshly gave Mateo Kovacic a second yellow card in the 73rd minute and left the Blues with an uphill task of overturning a 2-1 deficit with just over 15 minutes remaining.
"A lot of times there were 50-50's (that went Arsenal's way) and we had the same in 2017 - but we have to look further than this," Azpilicueta told chelseafc.com.
"We have to look at ourselves. We know two weeks ago when we played against Man United (in the semi-final), we really controlled it.
"It's painful and a tough one to take. Obviously when you lose a final, it's always painful.
"We started the game well and scored an early goal which normally gives a confidence to build on but we didn't capitalise on it.
"We dropped our level a little bit and we were punished."
