Maurizio Sarri said Chelsea were fatigued in the second half of their derby victory at Fulham.
Jorginho scored the winner in a 2-1 triumph at Craven Cottage but the Blues had to absorb sustained second-half pressure.
Head coach Sarri made five changes to his side but nevertheless pointed to the fact that Chelsea went to extra time and penalties in last weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City and won a gruelling midweek game against Tottenham.
“I think we played very well for 60 minutes,” Sarri said.
“We could have killed the match with a third goal. We didn’t kill the match and then in the last 20-25 minutes we were really very tired – physically but also mentally.
“In seven days, we played 120 minutes in a very difficult match against City and 90 minutes – very expensive (in terms of energy) – against Tottenham and today we had to play a very important derby.
“So we played very well for 60 minutes and then were very tired, but I think that’s the normal reaction to our seven days.”
Sarri added that he was “very happy” for the much-maligned Jorginho, who restored Chelsea’s lead with a superb strike soon after Calum Chambers’ first-half equaliser and was given a rousing ovation by the visiting fans when substituted in the second half.
Kepa, meanwhile, was recalled, having been dropped for the Spurs game for refusing to be substituted against City.
The keeper produced a vital late save to deny Aleksandar Mitrovic as Fulham pushed for an equaliser.
Sarri said: “He played very well. But it was a normal decision. He made a very big mistake and now the situation is closed.”
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This post was last modified on 03/03/2019