Jorrel Hato is really disappointed with himself and the rest of Chelsea’s defence following Saturday’s loss to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Chelsea were 1-0 up and in total control of the match until Trevoh Chalobah was sent off in the 53rd minute.
For Hato, the Blues did not do well enough in a couple of areas after that, something that the Dutchman has been very honest about.
Hato himself, though, had a good game overall before he had to be taken off because of cramp.
Jorrel Hato thinks Chelsea could have defended crosses better
Brighton’s equaliser and winning goal both came from crosses. From Hato’s point of view, Chelsea could have dealt with the Seagulls’ aerial assault much better.
“You can see it just affects the game, when we are down to 10 men against 11, and we did it for nearly 40 minutes yesterday. You can see it’s very difficult,” the 19-year-old was quoted as saying by Chelsea’s official club website after the game.
“We knew of course they would be playing on the sides and coming in with crosses. I think we could have done better, for sure.
“We’re very disappointed because we knew it would be difficult, but I think we didn’t give a lot of chances away before their equaliser. So, as I said, we’re very disappointed.”
Enzo Maresca‘s men have clearly not learnt from their last Premier League defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Just like their latest loss, they also received a red card and failed to deal with crosses. Both of United’s goals were the result of crosses not being dealt with properly.
Sanchez apologised for his sending off after the game, but the rest of Chelsea’s backline also has to take some accountability for these last two defeats.
Jorrel Hato thought Chelsea were ‘good’ in first half
It is understandable that Hato was left feeling disappointed after the full-time whistle, but the Netherlands international was pleased with Chelsea’s first-half performance.
“I would say the first half was good from our side,” Hato said. “We had a lot of possession, we created chances, we scored to make it 1-0 as well. We were playing well and scored a good goal.”
Had Chalobah not been sent off, the Blues probably would have won that match. The 26-year-old and Sanchez have really cost their side over these last two Saturdays.
As for Hato, though, he was definitely one of Chelsea’s better performers against Brighton. With Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo both injured, you would expect him to get more opportunities in central defence now.
He could play on Tuesday when Chelsea take on former manager Jose Mourinho and Benfica.
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