Blues manager Frank Lampard has put Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester City down to the “finer details” and a moment of quality from Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez.
Chelsea took the lead through French midfielder N’Golo Kante at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but the Premier League champions fought back as Kevin de Bruyne’s deflected efforts restored parity before Mahrez slotted home following a fine run from the right-hand side of the pitch.
Lampard’s team had more possession than City but despite living dangerously at the back at times, the 41-year-old explained that moments in both boxes were ultimately what settled the contest in Pep Guardiola’s favor.
After the game, Lampard admitted that he wanted his team to go toe to toe with the English champions and it was seen in the first half, “Coming into the game with our recent form and how we’re developing quickly, recently, I wanted to come here and compete, be brave on and off the ball and I think in the first half you saw all of that,”
However, the Englishman also stated that Chelsea had control of the game when they took the lead but the moments of quality from Manchester City in the final third is something that decided the outcome of the game, “At 1-0 we had relative control of the game. It’s clear that never lasts if you have one moment, which they had a couple of moments, but we were playing well and there’s a lot of positives but we lost the game, so it shows at this level, the finer details in both boxes are what decide these ones.”
The loss against Manchester City pushed Chelsea into 4th place on the League table while Pep Guardiola’s team moved into 3rd.
