Kurt Zouma conceded Chelsea’s defeat to West Brom was ‘difficult to swallow’ but called on the team to pick themselves up and get back to how they were playing.
Chelsea looked set to extend Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten start as Christian Pulisic fired them in front after 27th minutes at Stamford Bridge.
But Thiago Silva was shown a second yellow card few moments after the goal and the sending off turned things around, with Matheus Pereira and Robinson both completing braces.
It was only the second time that the blues have shipped five or more goals at home in the Premier League era and Zouma was at a loss when asked to describe where it went wrong.
‘I don’t know really. There are days when it’s not your day,’ the defender told Optus Sport shortly after the final whistle.
‘We conceded five today, it was very disappointing. There’s not much I can say, maybe a lack of focus or maybe West Brom wanted it more than us which is not possible.
‘There are days like that when nothing goes your way and it’s difficult to swallow really.’
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On whether the international break disrupted the club’s rhythm, Zouma replied: ‘Maybe but it’s not the time to find excuses. ‘We didn’t win the game today, we lost badly and we have to bounce back. That’s it.’
Chelsea’s defeat gave clubs like West Ham and Tottenham hope of catching their London rivals in the race for top-four and Zouma stressed that their response was crucial.
‘We need to get back to the way we were playing before the international break,’ the Frenchman added.
‘It’s just one game. We’re lucky because it’s just one game we’ve lost and we still have many games to go. ‘Hopefully we get back to it as quickly as possible.’
