Chelsea became the first side to inflict defeat on Manchester City in the domestic league since April following the 2-0 humbling of the Premier league holder at Stamford bridge.
They also displayed high defensive strength to thwart the free scoring defending champions front line and became just one of the few teams to have recorded a clean sheet against the Citizens.
The Blues coach, Maurizio Sarri, who is yet to lose a single match in the current Europa league campaign then revealed that the key to the victory was determination and application of the tactics he instructed his team to play to.
This revelations he made while addressing a press conference ahead of their final Europa league group stage match which comes up on Thursday.
What he said in full:
‘The players are able to defend, of course, but they are not able to have the same level of application and level of determination in every match so we need to improve this,’ he said. ‘We need to improve and we need to be able to play with the same levels as we did in this match in every other game.’
‘I can understand it is easier to have a strong motivation against Manchester City, but I know very well in Brighton there will be three points to play for, so we need the same levels of motivation and application – we need to improve in this.’
I said before to play in the defensive line in some matches is easier, like in this match, because the defensive movements of the team were working very well,’ he said. ‘Then there are matches, like against Tottenham, in which I think it is impossible to play in the defensive line, because the defensive movements of the team were a disaster.’
‘Hazard, Pedro and Willian are really very suitable for this kind of playing so it is a normal choice and I think it is a very good option. Maybe we will try it again in the future for some matches.
