'Was a problem' - Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino offers up excuse for Manchester United defeat

Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino hinted the reason for his side's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night was because his players were tired.

Following Saturday night's no-show against Newcastle United at St James' Park, United produced a much-improved performance to secure a fully merited three points, sealed thanks to a Scott McTominay brace. He scored either side of Cole Palmer's equaliser to seal a return to winning ways for the Reds.

Manager Erik ten Hag made four changes to team that started against the Magpies and it had the desired impact, with his side flying out of the traps and bombarding the Chelsea defence with a wave of attacks in the opening exchanges. Bruno Fernandes squandered the opportunity to put United ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, seeing a penalty saved by Robert Sanchez.

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United were quicker and stronger in the opening stages of the contest and while Pochettino felt they deserved all three points, he pointed out United had had an extra day's rest to prepare for the game.

Speaking to Amazon Prime Sport, he said: "I think so [it was a fair result], I think they deserved the victory. It was a difficult start, they showed massive energy.

"Maybe we were affected by the one day less rest, we played almost 60 minutes with one player less against Brighton and we had to play similar players. Maybe that was one of the reasons that we didn’t start well, but we created chances enough to be in the game at 1-1 and we started the second half really well. One action, we conceded and then it was difficult again."

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