Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was 'surprised' by his side's shocking loss to Brentford at home, and suggested that it was down to the international break.
Brentford shocked third place Chelsea on Saturday with a big 4-1 victory in Stamford Bridge. It was the first match after the international break for both sides, as the Premier League returned this weekend.
Antonio Rüdiger put the hosts in front in the early minutes of the second half, however that would be the only score of the game for the Blues.
Mere moments after Rüdiger's goal, Vitaly Janelt scored the first of his two goals, before Christian Eriksen put the Bees in front in the 54th minute.
Janelt finished his brace just six minutes later, 10 minutes after his first, and the match was all but over after just the 10 minutes on attack from Brentford.
Yoane Wissa added the fourth and final goal of the game for Brentford in the 87th minute to round out the shocking win away from home for the Bees.
"We lost control in ten minutes"
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel reflects on his side's shock 4-1 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League 👇 pic.twitter.com/SlkdXyV3pk— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 2, 2022
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Tuchel discussed the shocking 4-1 defeat to the 14th-placed Bees at Stamford Bridge.
"We lost control in 10 minutes," Tuchel said. "We lost the game with three goals in 10 minutes after we took the lead. We were totally in control.
"It was a tough start for us. It is not the first time after an international break. It took some time for us to find our rhythm and to find the full control, but we did in the last 20 minutes of the first half.
"We had a very good start in the second half, we went into the lead. Then, I don't know. Maybe we thought it was already done, and we got punished in 10 minutes."
While he was happy with how his side came back into the game, Tuchel bemoaned his side's inability to finish off their chances.
"They made a lot of their chances in those 10 minutes," Tuchel said. "We had chances to come back. We had a goal that was disallowed.
"We had a blocked shot against the goalkeeper, a pressing situation, then we had another big chance from Kai [Havertz] to even come back.
"Then, of course it was done."
When asked whether or not he was surprised by the result and how Brentford took control of the game, the German manager was dismissive in his reply.
"You can answer the question yourself," Tuchel said. "Of course!"
"I don't count the fourth [goal]; the fourth one is the fourth one, but the 3-1 in 10 minutes is decisive. We were in total control, but in general we allowed too many shots, and in general we lacked energy today.
"We looked mentally tired, physically tired, which is normal after being around the world. You need to get your result right after being favourites in a match like this.
"We thought, maybe, we did, but we forgot that we still had 40 minutes to play."
Football on Off The Ball brought to you by Sky. All the football you love in one place across Sky Sports, BT Sport & Premier Sports.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
