In the match of the 4th round of the English Premier League at home, Chelsea was held to a 2-2 draw by newcomer Hull City. Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead in the 7th minute.
It seemed like The Blues had controlled the match, but Mohamed Belloumi scored two consecutive goals to help Hull City take a 2-1 lead. In the second half, Joao Pedro equalized with a beautiful finish. Chelsea tried their best to find the decisive goal but failed.
Coach Xabi Alonso expressed disappointment with the way Chelsea conceded goals, admitting after the final whistle that the team's progress was being hindered by weaknesses in defense.
He said: "Chelsea is taking steps forward, but we want to feel like we have gone further. We know we will achieve our goal, but currently, there are some aspects of the match that need to be improved to compete better in the Premier League.
We need to play more solidly and compete throughout the match, not just at certain times. Stability in form is what we need. That is very clear and we know it is a process, but that is where we will achieve the greatest progress.
Chelsea is confident in attack, but needs balance to be more confident in other stages, thereby getting closer to victory. Today we are not too far from the finish line but have received a worthy result”.
Under Alonso, Chelsea showed remarkable attacking ability when scoring 18 goals in 6 matches in all competitions. However, on the contrary, they conceded 12 goals. The Spanish strategist emphasized the need to be more balanced to ensure that the team's scoring ability is always rewarded with victories.
He said: "This match may be quite interesting, but I hope one day you will say this is a boring match and we win without letting such interesting moments happen.
It repeats some mistakes that we often make. It will take time to fix them. When leading, we still need to play fiercely and not easily let the opponent have a chance to equalize, especially in the first goal. We could have done much better. The goal conceded was too easy.
The development momentum Chelsea had was lost after that goal conceded, affecting the players' psychology. This is something we need to continue to discuss and resolve. Chelsea will improve, but mistakes like this are affecting our performance”.
