MX23RW : Thursday, August 16 11:06:12
Aug 11, 2018 at 3pm UK at ​John Smith's Stadium
Attendance: 24,121
HuddersfieldHuddersfield Town
0-3
Chelsea

Schindler (45'), Kongolo (83')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen.), Pedro (80')
Luiz (69')

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri: "It's not been easy for me"

Maurizio Sarri:
© Reuters
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri admits that the "game was more difficult than the result" after seeing his side earn a 3-0 win at Huddersfield Town.

Maurizio Sarri has admitted that he has found it tough going at Chelsea since replacing Antonio Conte as manager last month.

The Italian had just a few weeks to instil a new style of play ahead of Saturday afternoon's trip to Huddersfield Town, which ended in a resounding 3-0 victory.

Sarri insists that the margin of victory at the John Smith's Stadium does not tell the whole story, however, as Huddersfield held their own in the opening half-hour and were unfortunate to go into the break a couple of goals behind.

Speaking to BBC Sport after his first Premier League match at the helm, the 59-year-old said: "The game was more difficult than the result. If you see the result you think it was a very easy match but in the first half it was very difficult against physical opponents.

"We are not a physical team so for 20 minutes we were in trouble but we did very well. In this moment we are not at the top of our potential but we had the capacity to suffer for 20 minutes in the first half.

"Now, it depends on me and the players. The situation until now has been very difficult. On Monday four players from the World Cup arrived. And then on Tuesday another two, so it's not been easy for me at the moment. Hopefully two months and not three [before we reach top form]."

Sarri is the ninth consecutive Chelsea manager, including caretakers, to avoid defeat in his first Premier League game in charge.

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Maurizio Sarri watches on during the pre-season friendly between Chelsea and Arsenal on August 1, 2018
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