LONDON: Chelsea's Christian Pulisic said the first half of the game against Manchester City "really let us down" and his side allowed the opponents to "dictate the tempo of the game." Chelsea were beaten by Manchester City 3-1 in the Premier League here on Sunday.
"We conceded goals with a lot of counter situations and we weren't prepared to stop that so the first half really let us down. They were able to beat us on some transitions where we needed to defend better and be a little smarter and then we allowed them to dictate the tempo of the game," the club's official website quoted Pulisic as saying.
Three quick goals from Manchester City in the first half did the damage. Ilkay Gundogan's opener in the 18th minute was followed by Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne's strikes which came in the 21st and 34th minute respectively.
Chelsea's only goal was netted by Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 90+2nd minute. Pulisic said the team gave everything in the second half and also got a reward for their performance but it was "too little, too late".
"We're never going to give up, we know we have talented guys and a good team but we just need to show it, which is what we did in the second half. It's not easy to come back from three goals down but it's happened before so we gave it everything and managed to get one back. Unfortunately, it was just too little, too late," he said.
Chelsea is currently placed in the eighth spot on the Premier League standings with 26 points. The club will now take on Morecambe in the FA Cup on January 10.