Antonio
Conte praised his players' resolve after substitute Willian's late goal
earned them a 1-1 draw at Liverpool - but believes Chelsea could easily have
won the contest.
Former Chelsea attacker Mo Salah had put the hosts ahead on 65 minutes
before Willian's cross-shot caught out Simon Mignolet with five minutes to
play.
However, Conte - whose players had endured a long midweek Champions League
trip to play Qarabag in Azerbaijan - believes the ricochets in the build-up
to Liverpool's opener and Chelsea's all-round performance meant his side
were unlucky not to take all three points.
"In the first half we were very solid and always dangerous in ball
possession," he said. "In the second half we created many chances to score.
Maybe in our best moment we conceded the goal.
"I think we were unlucky, if you see the dynamic of their goal. But at the
same time I'm very happy to see a good reaction of my players. A great
desire, a great will to fight, a great desire to not accept the result
against Liverpool. We tried to win the game. We must be pleased despite the
draw.
"Both teams played with a great intensity from the start until the end. For
us, it was very difficult to play this game after our long travel and after
no rest for my players. And also because when you play at Anfield it's not
simple because you play against a very strong team, you play in a particular
atmosphere.
"We had a tactical plan and for Liverpool it was very difficult to make
chances to score. I think we prepared the game very well. It was a tactical
decision, especially in the first half, to be very solid and then use the
ball to be dangerous.
"But in the second half the game is changing, we dominated the game, we
created many chances to score and Liverpool were lucky to score and then to
draw."
Conte laughed off suggestions Willian's goal was unintentional - "it's not
important! It's important to score!" - but said the Brazilian is an example
of the strong squad he is developing at Chelsea.
Conte applauded the performance of Danny Drinkwater in central midfield, who
started ahead of Cesc Fabregas, and says he now has options to employ
different tactical systems, especially with Eden Hazard hitting form up
front.
"When you play every three days and you have to play a lot of games it is
very difficult," he said, when asked about Jurgen Klopp leaving out star men
Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
"Every coach tries to make the best decision for his team but it's important
for rotations in this situation, otherwise you risk having a player very
tired.
"In this case there is Cesc. He played every game from the start of the
season - and he played very well. For this reason I took this decision, it
was an important decision. When you give a new player [Drinkwater] this type
of chance in a big game against Liverpool the coach shows you trust in all
of your players.
"I think now we have another player we can count on, in Drinkwater. It's
very important for me to have the four midfielders and the best possibility
to play with three midfielders or two midfielders.
"Now Hazard's in really good form, he likes to play as a striker and there's
a good link with Alvaro Morata. For me it's a big opportunity to have the
possibility to play with the two different systems. Against Qarabag with
3-4-2-1, today we started with 3-5-2."
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