Alonso: The second goal came a little too early, but we never gave up

In the third round of the Premier League, Chelsea lost 1-2 away to Arsenal. After the match, Chelsea manager Alonso spoke in an interview with Sky Sports.

Xavi, although you are disappointed with the result, are you still satisfied with the spirit your team showed today?

It hurts a lot. Because losing a match will inevitably bring pain. This was a very fast-paced game, and the situation on the pitch changed constantly. We actually had chances to equalize, and we created several good opportunities in the first half, so it was a closely contested match where details decided the outcome. But when you lose, you can never be happy.

Yes, you once again made a fantastic start in a Premier League match. That is certainly not a bad thing, but is the downside that it instead forced you into a passive defensive position and allowed the opponent to take control?

Yes, in the 15 to 20 minutes after scoring, we came under too much defensive pressure and found it difficult to keep possession and control the tempo. I think after 20 minutes, perhaps after they equalized, we regained our rhythm and our possession improved. We had chances through Morgan (Rogers), and we also had a chance through Pedro (Neto). But overall, this was a very tight and extremely intense match. Unfortunately, or perhaps we could have done better defensively, the second goal came a little too early. But regardless, we never gave up and fought until the final moment. The players gave everything on the pitch and tried every possible way, but this was ultimately our first defeat, and we need to keep moving forward. However, a loss must make us remember this feeling of pain.