Chelsea must look at their own mistakes in the FA Cup Final rather than blaming any refereeing decisions for Arsenal's win, according to Cesar Azpilicueta.
Frank Lampard's Blues went ahead through Christian Pulisic, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck twice to seal a 2-1 comeback win for the Gunners.
Azpilicueta hauled down Aubameyang in the box giving the Arsenal skipper the chance to equalise from the penalty spot.
The Chelsea captain then limped off with a hamstring injury soon after and was followed into the Wembley treatment room by Pulisic soon after the interval.
Aubameyang conjured up a world class finish to fire Arsenal ahead before Mateo Kovacic was sent off following two debatable yellow card offences.
There was more controversy when referee Anthony Taylor and his assistants deemed that Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had not handled the ball outside of his area - with replays proving inconclusive.
But Azpilicueta says Chelsea's loss does not lay at the feet of Taylor, who was also in charge when the same two sides met in the final in 2017 - a game which Arsenal also won 2-1 and where Chelsea were reduced to 10 men following Victor Moses' dismissal.
"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."
Additional reporting by PA.
