Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso does not believe his side were bullied during their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Sunday.
Enzo Le Fee’s 36th-minute penalty was enough for the Black Cats to clinch their first win in the Premier League since August and move up from the foot of the table.
Chelsea slipped to their fourth league defeat of the campaign and dropped out of the top four following an unproductive showing at the Stadium of Light.
The Blues had a penalty shout dismissed in the first half when Cole Palmer was bundled over charging into the box, but a VAR check ruled contact happened outside the box.
Morgan Rogers nodded wide before the break and after the restart Chelsea continued to dominate possession but could not make the most of it.
Former Sunderland loanee Danny Welbeck had arguably best opportunity of the half for the visitors when he nodded over the crossbar in stoppage time and Alonso admitted his side struggled to “produce enough.”
“Not bullied, I would say that it was a situation that we could have defended better. Situations that we could have got better advantages in attack,” Alonso said.
“But the game was really even, really competitive, they were waiting for their chance, they got it. After they took the lead we were trying but we were not producing much.
“The first goal is always important and being behind, we didn’t produce enough.”
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The decisive moment came following a tussle between Brian Brobbey and Levi Colwill in the box and the Sunderland striker was brought down in the area, with Le Fee subsequently slotting home from the spot.
Brobbey had threatened twice before winning the penalty and continued to be a handful for the Chelsea defence before he was substituted in the 67th minute.
Asked if Brobbey had caused particular problems, Alonso replied: “A few, yes, I’m sure you have seen in the first half a couple of situations from transitions, out of almost nothing he got a couple of chances, he got the penalty as well.
“We have been preparing for that, we have tried, but we could have done better.
“[Brobbey is] not unstoppable, he’s stoppable but when you defend better than we did.”
Pedro Neto started up front for Chelsea, who remain without striker João Pedro due to a thigh injury.
Speaking about the latter, Alonso added: “For sure we miss him; even when we win, [or] when we lose, we miss some players that we have injured.
“We are waiting to have them back because they are important and now we need to use the time to recover them, but with the players we have to get ready for the next one.”
