Antonio Conte pointed to too many mistakes in possession as we suffered a 3-2 home loss against Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
We took the lead when Jan Bednarek turned Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s cross into his own net on 18 minutes but Armando Broja levelled five minutes later and the visitors dominated the first half, totting up 16 efforts at goal and forcing Hugo Lloris into a number of fine saves.
We started to turn the tide in the second half and restored our lead on 70 minutes when Heung-Min Son converted Lucas Moura’s cross. But it wasn’t to be. Southampton hit back with two goals in three minutes from Mohamed Elyounoussi (79) and Che Adams (82) to turn the game around again.
Frustratingly, we had the ball in the net again in added time, only for Steven Bergwijn’s effort to be called offside after a VAR review - the fifth goal we’ve had disallowed in two matches against the Saints this season.
For sure, when you score and there are 15, 20 minutes to go, you need to pay a bit more attention
Antonio said: “There is big disappointment, a tough game, this league is very difficult, and we have to know that we are a team that to win a game, we have to give 120 per cent every time.
“Today, the effort of the players was maximum. In the first half we struggled a bit because we made too many mistakes in possession. I think sometimes when you make mistakes in possession, this can create a bit of mental instability.
“In the second half we started to play, we played a good second half. For sure, when you score and there are 15, 20 minutes to go, you need to pay a bit more attention. Don’t forget we won a game at Leicester in this way. Now, we've lost a game against Southampton in the same way.”