Chelsea manager, Graham Potter defended his senior players but admitted the Blues are “not in a great moment” after their 4-0 FA Cup thrashing at Manchester City.
Newsbreak.ng reports that City cruised into the FA Cup fourth round with a routine victory over a poor Chelsea at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
This was a far cry from what has traditionally been a hugely competitive meeting between two English Premier League (EPL) giants as City wrapped up a tie with either Oxford United or Arsenal in the next round by the interval.
City’s win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday was hard-fought but this was a stroll, Riyad Mahrez setting them on their way with a brilliant 23rd-minute free-kick before World Cup winner Julian Alvarez scored a second from the spot seven minutes later after Kai Havertz’s handball.
Phil Foden scored City’s third after 38 minutes, turning in Kyle Walker’s cross after he had been played in by Thursday’s match-winner Mahrez, who got his second from the spot late on after Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly clumsily bundled Foden to the floor.
It was a chastening day for Potter and their travelling support, who chanted the name of Thomas Tuchel, the UEFA Champions League (UCL)-winning manager sacked by new owner Todd Boehly in September.
“I thought we were second best to a very, very good side. Obviously, we are not in a great moment ourselves and even though it was a cagey first 20 minutes we couldn’t attack the backline well enough, we couldn’t attack as well as we would like. I think Manchester City do really well in terms of stopping you doing that. At the same time, we struggled,” Potter said during his post-match press conference.
“It was a fantastic first goal in terms of a strike from a free-kick, and a strange penalty and you are caught in a position where it is 2-0 and you have to chase the ball against Manchester City. You are caught between trying to commit more men and not getting opened up.
“So the first half was painful and tough for us all. Second half, we had to respond and I thought there were some positives there in terms of the young players. I thought they gave everything and showed their quality but we are disappointed we went out of the competition. Congratulations to Man City. They deserved to win, of course.”
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