"Not good enough individually or as a team" - Chelsea star admits Brighton 'wanted it more' after damaging 4-1 defeat
Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher has admitted that the Blues will need to take responsibility after their damaging defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday (29 October).
Chelsea suffered a brutal 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton as the Seagulls ran riot at the Amex. The Blues were directly responsible for half the goals they conceded as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah scored an own goal each.
Conor Gallagher issues damning Chelsea verdict after Graham Potter's first defeat to Brighton 🤔
#CFC | @BobbyVincentFL
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Kai Havertz managed to find the back of the net in the 48th minute. However, the Blues were overwhelmed by a dominant display from Brighton and could not secure any points from the encounter.
The irony is that Chelsea boss Graham Potter was unbeaten since his appointment at Stamford Bridge until he faced the very outfit he previously managed.
Following the fixture, Gallagher said of the Blues' performance (via Metro):
"It’s a tough one to take. At the end of the day, we were not good enough individually or as a team. It seemed like they wanted it a bit more than us.
"We have to look at ourselves. We’re to blame and we are gutted, very disappointed in ourselves as a team as we know we’re so much more professional than that. Credit to Brighton, they were very good. They’re a top team, their fans were up for it"
He added:
"We were always in the game, even at half time when we were three down. It shows we did have chances and I should have scored in the first half which could have changed the game. It didn’t go that way. We had chances, but we need to defend better as a team.
"We shouldn’t be conceding that many goals, so we’re very disappointed. We’re at fault. We need to look at the mistakes, learn from them, dust ourselves off and go again."
Chelsea boss opens up about 'painful' defeat to Brighton
Following the encounter, the Chelsea boss shared his thoughts on his side's performance. Potter told BBC Sport (via the aforementioned Metro report):
"We didn’t really recover from a poor start. Once the crowd were so engaged, it was a difficult one for us. The scoreline was painful. Brighton played a good game, especially in the first half. You can always look at goals and think you can do better.
"We have to take responsibility a bit in the first half. We have had a lot of football but that’s no excuse."
Potter added:
"We couldn’t quite get to that level. We didn’t take our opportunities in attack and they did. We had some opportunities to attack them too but unfortunately we missed the pass or didn’t execute, then the scoreline was a painful one. When you lose you can always do better."
"He's done a really good job." 👏
Graham Potter was full of praise for Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, after the Blues fell to a 4-1 defeat to his side yesterday 🗣️ https://t.co/gQFKOrLNMD