There was an hour on the clock when Thomas Tuchel erupted at his players. A stroll against the Premier League’s bottom side had turned into a scrap. Sheffield United were fighting for their interim manager, Paul Heckingbottom, and Chelsea’s supposedly straightforward route into the last four of the FA Cup, where they will face Manchester City, was under threat.
Ever the perfectionist, Tuchel struggled to hold in his frustration. Chelsea’s manager knew an equaliser was on the cards. This quarter-final had finally come alive and it was United who were calling the shots, bossing midfield and repeatedly breaking beyond Chelsea on the left. Something had to change.
