The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Conte slams players for letting lead slip away
Antonio Conte criticised his players for allowing a lead to slip away against Manchester United and accepted Chelsea may struggle to finish in the top four.
Willian deservedly put the visitors ahead at Old Trafford and Chelsea dominated possession, but Romelu Lukaku quickly equalised and substitute Jesse Lingard headed in the winner with 15 minutes remaining.
The result, coupled with Tottenham’s victory over Crystal Palace, left Chelsea in fifth place in the Premier League table, while United climbed back above Liverpool into second.
Conte said: “For sure we must be disappointed for the final result.
“I think today we had a good chance to get three points against a competitor for a place in Champions League but at the end we are talking about another defeat and we must be disappointed because when you have this type of situation you have to manage the game better and you must be able with experience, with maturity, to get three points.”
Asked what it would say about Chelsea if they do not qualify for the Champions League, Conte said: “I don’t know but this could be a possibility for sure.”
His opposite number José Mourinho praised his players for their attitude in turning around the game after Chelsea dominated the opening half an hour.
The United boss said: “You can only win against the top teams with that humble attitude.
“We can be speaking about tactics and positions and football science but to win against the top teams the attitude has to be really special and the players showed that.
“The beginning of the game was blue.
“We took a little bit of time to adapt to some new positions on the pitch, the way we were playing.
“We scored the winning goal that I think in the end we deserved.”