Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez felt his side were unlucky to be trailing at the interval of their FA Cup defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The former Blues interim boss saw his Magpies side have the better of the first 30 minutes, but Michy Batshuayi’s double saw the hosts take control by the break.
“In the first half we did very well,” Benitez said. “We had chances, we were on top of them and were in control of them.
“In the second half they were much better because they were 2-0 up and we were more open.
“We tried to put them under pressure but there was a difference of quality in some situations.
“The first half showed we wanted to stay in the competition.”
This post was last modified on 28/01/2018