Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho described his team’s attacking display against Sunderland as “phenomenal” but admitted some of their defending was far from impressive.
The Blues’ thrilling 4-3 victory at the Stadium of Light kept them in second place, four points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Eden Hazard, who scored two of the visitors’ goals, was outstanding as Chelsea played some delightful football.
However, they looked fragile at the back at times.
Mourinho said: “We played a phenomenal game – our best game away from home.
“There was top quality, great creativity from the three attacking players behind Fernando Torres and beautiful goals.
“The game is about that, but it is also about basic things and we failed in those basic things.
“The most basic is to defend set-plays. In a game where we should win clearly because of the way we played, we had a risk until the last seconds.”
But he had nothing but praise for Hazard, who produced his best display since the Portuguese’s return to Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho declared: “It was his best performance playing for me. We know about his talent, but for the first time under me he showed ambition from the first minute to the last.”
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