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After Chelsea‘s 2-1 Premier League loss to Manchester United on Wednesday, head coach Mauricio Pochettino speculated that his team might have been worn out.
Despite playing with 10 men from the end of the first half, the Blues defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 on Sunday, so they came to Old Trafford with confidence.
Chelsea, however, was unable to match that effort and performance against United, who got out to a quick start and won thanks to two goals from Scott McTominay.
Just before halftime, Cole Palmer pulled one back for the visitors, although Chelsea were generally outclassed by their hosts during the match at the Theatre of Dreams.
After the game, Pochettino admitted as much, but he also cited Chelsea’s performance against Brighton, which included playing for more than an hour with a man advantage when added-on time was taken into consideration.
The Argentine, whose words were cited by football.london, expressed disappointment to reporters during a news conference, saying: “We felt that we didn’t match their enthusiasm and that they started the game better than us.
They were superior, in my opinion. In general, I believe they were superior to us.
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“I believe we created enough opportunities; we drew 1-1 in the first half, and we had a few good opportunities that we should have scored. The issue was that we weren’t being more clinical.
We get off to a strong start in the second half, but after we give up, we naturally lack the energy to play more aggressively.
“We had a few opportunities, but not enough to return to the game. In general, I believe they should have received the three points because they were superior to us.”
He went on: “I think it might have an impact on the players’ performances and energy level a little bit to play against Brighton with one less player for 60 minutes.
“Then we need to recover, too many players injured, we need to recover them as soon as possible to be more competitive and to have options and to help the team achieve what we want.”
Chelsea’s loss to United has kept them eight points behind their sixth-place opponents in the standings, where they currently reside in 10th place.
Chelsea’s next game comes at Goodison Park on Sunday against Everton, who will have one fewer day to prepare because of their match against Newcastle United on Thursday.
