Mauricio Pochettino was quick to condemn his team’s wastefulness following Chelsea’s devastating 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.
The Blues were in control at Riverside Stadium, but Cole Palmer was especially wasteful in front of goal.
A goal from Hayden Hackney in the first half gave the Sky Bet Championship hosts a narrow lead going into the rematch at Stamford Bridge in two weeks.
Pochettino disappointed after loads of missed chances
“We had too many chances to score where we didn’t score – that is football”, Blues boss Pochettino told Sky Sports.
“Of course we are disappointed. It is the first half of the tie. We have another 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge and we have to be positive.”
At the end of the game, a few of the Chelsea fans who were travelling lost their cool.
“If we assess the performance, overall we were the better side, we create more chances, we have clear chances”, says Pochettino.
“But we didn’t score and we were not clinical and that has happened a lot this season – so many games we didn’t win because we weren’t clinical enough.”
“We were punished for the mistakes we made in the first half. We conceded a goal because it was our mistake. The few mistakes we made they punished us. We created enough chances to score and get a draw at the end. Over 90 minutes I thought we were the better side, but if you don’t score goals you cannot win. They scored and we didn’t. That explains perfectly what happened.”
“I am disappointed because I think we deserved a different result, but sometimes you don’t play well and you win. For us it’s like we need to play well, we need to score goals. We play well but sometimes we are not clinical enough and sometimes we are punished. That is the process in this moment we are in.”
Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick said: “I thought the lads were exceptional, outstanding – effort, spirit was just off the scale, I’m just so, so proud of them. It was an incredible night.”
“Football’s about dreaming, things happen in cup competitions. Tonight shouldn’t probably have happened and we found a way to make it happen – the boys were incredible.”
“We’ll go down there with our eyes wide open and know what to expect but it doesn’t stop us from trying.”
