The Blues were found on the wrong end of a scoreline at the end of 90 minutes for the very first time in the league this season.
Thomas Tuchel admits Manchester City “deserved to win” against Chelsea in their Premier League meeting on Saturday.
Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both started in a 3-5-2 formation while Kai Havertz came off the bench but Chelsea failed to register even a single shot on target.
Tuchel overpowered Pep Guardiola in their previous three face-offs, but he wasn’t able to do it in the latest one at Stamford Bridge as Man City walked away with a slender 1-0 victory.
“We lost the game and City deserved to win,” the Blues boss told at his post-match press conference.
“We were never on our highest level. We did not have ball possession to hurt them, to grow in confidence. It never happened in the first half or the second half.
“We were not on our very best level and you need the best level to push the game against this side.
“We were not good enough today to escape pressure. Our ball possession wasn’t the sharpest in terms of switching the play to hurt them, to give us confidence and to breathe. This didn’t happen enough.
“I did not feel that we 100 per cent believed in it. It was doubtful and we were protecting something. It felt like we had something to lose and we lacked energy but that can happen.”
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