Antonio Conte reacts to Chelsea’s 1-0 loss at West Ham United
Antonio Conte admits his disappointment after Chelsea's 1-0 loss to West Ham United on Saturday afternoon
Antonio Conte blamed his Chelsea team’s slow start for their disappointing 1-0 loss to West Ham United in the Premier League at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues fell behind in just the sixth minute in east London when Marko Arnautovic scored an impressive opener for the home side.
Chelsea pressed for an equaliser after Conte opted to bring off Tiemoue Bakayoko and replace him with Pedro Rodriguez at half time.
However, the Blues were unable to make the breakthrough as they suffered another serious blow to their hopes of winning the Premier League title this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Conte said: “When you lose a game you must be disappointed. It is normal.
“I think today I saw the same game against Manchester City – West Ham. Our start was bad but today we played a bit tired.
“To face one game every two games always with the same players is very difficult. And we have just started this period.
“You have to move the ball quickly. But I repeat, we saw today a bit of tiredness in my players, especially in the last pass, we did a lot of mistakes.
“We must be disappointed. I repeat, we create many chances but were not able to score. We have to go and to play game by game, to be focussed.
“Don’t forget in this league it is very difficult. There are six top teams and four go to Champions League. We have to fight and do our best.”
The result left Conte’s side in third place in the Premier League table as they bid to try and get themselves back into the title race.
Chelsea must now dust themselves down as they prepare for their Premier League trip to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.
The Blues booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League as group runners up after their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
