Maurizio Sarri admitted having to endure a tense final few minutes during Chelsea’s win at Brighton.
The Blues boss was unhappy that his side, who were leading 2-0, switched off and allowed Solly March to pull a goal back for the hosts midway through the second half.
He responded to the goal by sending on Ruben Loftus-Cheek and later introduced Olivier Giroud, who performed in a makeshift defensive role as Chelsea dealt with high balls into the box in the final minutes.
“We played very well for 60 minutes and conceded a goal at a moment when we were in full control of the match,” Sarri said after the 2-1 victory.
“We had to suffer in the last five minutes with long balls into the box. We are not a physical team.
“With the substitutions I tried to have more of a physical impact for the last five minutes and it was clear that it was really very difficult in the last five minutes. We really could have won better.”
Meanwhile, Sarri has been assured that knock Eden Hazard picked up is not a cause for alarm.
This post was last modified on 17/12/2018