Kai Havertz has issued an apology to Dan Burn after catching the Newcastle defender with his elbow but denied claims he should have been sent off.
The German continued his blistering form for the Blues as he netted a late winner to secure a 1-0 victory over Eddie Howe's men.
Newcastle have been left feeling aggrieved however as the matchwinner arguably shouldn't have been on the pitch.
Havertz collided with Burn going up for a header, catching the centre-half with an elbow, but only received a yellow card.
VAR opted not to intervene as ref David Coote was not asked to go over to the monitor to review his decision.
Sky Sports commentator Jamie Carragher and pundit Jamie Redknapp believed it merited a red, however, as Burn suffered a nasty cut above his eye.
Havertz said "sorry" for catching Burn but claims it was never a sending-off as he only had eyes for the ball.
Was Kai Havertz's challenge on Dan Burn a red card? Comment below
He told Sky Sports: "People know me not as a player who does things like this.
"This guy is like seven, eight foot and I have to jump against him. You have to use arms to jump and when I jump he is higher than me, so it is tough. I can say sorry because I saw he was hurt and feel bad, but you cannot tell me I did this on purpose."
Eddie Howe reckons Havertz could have seen red but the fact Coote wasn't asked to go over to the monitor to look at the decision makes a "mockery of VAR."
He said: "It could have been a red but not going to shout from rooftops but the penalty with the use of VAR I cannot understand that has not been given or the ref has not been asked to go to the monitor and review his decision.
"That makes a mockery of VAR."
Havertz was delighted to score the decisive goal at such a late stage in the game as Newcastle put up a good fight against Thomas Tuchel's men.
He added: "It was amazing to score in the last minute like this. It was very tough. Newcastle made life hard for us. Up front it was tough - they have big defenders, who always tried to block us and foul us.
On the changes Chelsea made at half time, he said: "But we talked about this at half-time and how to get round this. We dug in, tried to give our best and in the end it was brilliant for us."
There were plenty of off-field distractions in the build-up to the game as the UK government placed sanctions on Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And Havertz admitted it's been an extremely difficult situation for everyone associated with the club, but he hopes today's result can help somewhat put their minds at ease.
He added: "It's tough, we players are privileged to train and continue to do what we love. We feel sorry for everyone. The supporters, the workers, not just us professionals. It's a tough time for everyone.
"We try to give everything for them in the moment. We have to stand together, we try to do this and give them a good feeling."
