‘We need to be better’

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admits his team is in a tough place but is confident his team can get out of their slump.

The Blues fell to a 3-1 defeat against Manchester City on Saturday night, with the London club dropping to sixth in the process.

It was their fifth loss of the campaign, the same as Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Brighton.

Noni Madueke put the visitors ahead early on after an error by Abdukodir Khusanov, but the hosts fought back, with goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.

Maresca reflected on the match, admitting he was frustrated with the missed opportunities.

He said: “The game started very well for us. We scored the first and I could have scored the second goal two or three times. The game would have changed completely. We got lost.

“The team was there, but in the last minutes we conceded 1-1. The second goal changed the game. Robert is the first one (admit) who knows he has to do better. Work hard every day (it’s the way to improve). We try to have conversations with all of them.

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“We are making progress. We are better than a month or two ago. These moments will make us better.

“We scored the first and we could have scored the second and then against this team and these players, the game is always open.” We conceded at the end of the first half and then the second half was probably 50/50.

“When you concede at the end of the first half, and the best way is to avoid it. Probably for me, the game is different if we score the second.

“We need to be better, but we also played the way we played, we scored the first and we could have scored the second. If we could score it, the game could have been very different for us.”

Maresca added that he knows City have quality players who can punish any opposition in the world.

And once again, defender Robert Sanchez’s goalkeeper after no-go was caught in no man’s land for City’s second.

“They have players who can change the game at any moment.

“In my opinion, we are better than one to two months.

“Robert (Sánchez) is the first one aware of the error. I think the second goal changed the mood.

“We are in a moment: game after game, it is an opportunity for us to learn.”