Mauricio Pochettino is confident Chelsea will improve quickly despite an alarming 3-1 defeat at 10-man West Ham.
The Blues were the better side but James Ward-Prowse, making his Hammers debut, created goals for Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio, either side of Carney Chukwuemeka’s equaliser.
Enzo Fernandez had a penalty saved by Alphonse Areola and West Ham had to play the final 25 minutes a player down after Aguerd saw red.
Yet not only did David Moyes’ side cling on for a first win of the season, they wrapped it up in stoppage time.
While Chelsea’s £105million player missed a spot-kick, their £115million signing gave one away with Moises Caicedo, on as a substitute, sending Emerson Palmieri tumbling and Lucas Paqueta converting the spot-kick.
“I think today the result doesn’t reflect the performance but in football these situations happen,” said Pochettino.
“I am disappointed in the way we conceded the first goal. We know West Ham are good at set-pieces. That is a little bit disappointing and we need to work hard on that.
“Then I think also did really well in the first half and we should have been winning at half-time.
“But that is the process. We need to accept the defeat and keep on working.
“If we score the penalty we miss you are talking about a different game. We are going to perform better in the next games.”
Ward-Prowse was brought in to replace Declan Rice in West Ham’s midfield but he offers plenty more in attack.
His seventh-minute corner found Aguerd at the far post, and his clever ball over the top sent Antonio through on goal.
“His character is, in lots of ways, similar to Declan Rice,” said manager Moyes.
“He’s a really good boy. His delivery, his assists, that’s what he’s capable of and I thought he did a great job today. His corner gave us a great start.”
Paqueta was in the West Ham line-up despite being reportedly investigated by the Football Association for potential betting rule breaches.
The Brazil midfielder is said to be shocked by the probe, which is believed to centre around bets placed in his homeland on yellow cards awarded against him.
A move to Manchester City may have fallen through so the 25-year-old celebrated his goal with the ‘crossed Hammers’ sign.
“I thought 65,000 people stood to their feet and applauded him,” added Moyes.
“He played as well as anybody, he showed character and his performance was very good, especially in the second half.
“There was never any doubt (he would play). He’s a solid and tough character so no problems. He’s a very good player.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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