Mauricio Pochettino claims that Chelsea’s lackluster performance against Manchester United stems from their weekend’s 10-man match against Brighton.

At Old Trafford, the home team defeated Chelsea 2-1 thanks to two goals from Scott McTominay.

Cole Palmer gave Chelsea an equalizer shortly before halftime thanks to a number of outstanding saves by Robert Sanchez, including one from a penalty kick by Bruno Fernandes.

Though he acknowledged United was the superior team, Pochettino acknowledged that Conor Gallagher’s first-half red card from the previous weekend may have contributed to his team’s dominance on Wednesday night.

He said: “It was difficult at the start, they showed massive energy. Maybe we were affected because we played Sunday with one less [player] for 60 minutes with similar players.

“Maybe it was difficult for us to start the game in the way that we wanted. Maybe that was one of the reasons why we didn’t start the game well.

“This type of game is difficult to assess because of how [important] one day more was for Manchester [United] to recover and for us to play 60 minutes with one player less. With this situation, we missed a little bit of energy from the beginning.”

“My feeling was they were better than us and deserved to win.”

Even when several members of the away crowd jeered his Chelsea team after such a lackluster performance, Pochettino maintained his composure in the face of yet another setback.

It was a long cry from the fury he displayed during the away 4-1 loss to Newcastle.

“It’s similar to a few weeks ago and months ago; we want to improve the position in the table, of course, but, at the same time, it is a reality that we played well until Newcastle, then well against Brighton and, today, the result is fair,” he explained.

“I am not worried because there are too many circumstances. You have to say why we didn’t perform.

“We are a project and not going to say what we were saying from the beginning of the season. We knew that with all the players fit, it was going to be difficult.

“Now, with half the squad out, it is hard to increase the level, very, very difficult. It is hard to talk, not fair but that’s the reality. We have to improve the players who arrive under massive pressure to perform, and it is about time.”

He added: “Now is not the same [feeling as Newcastle] because we miss players. I think we played against Brighton with one player less for 45 minutes. You can see also our bench is young.

“That is not an excuse but if we need to talk, we need to talk with the reality. I am not disappointed because they gave everything.

“Yes, we didn’t match the energy and they were more aggressive than us but we were competitive and created chances, maybe enough to draw the game.

“We lost 2-1 and we got nothing so that might be where we get critics and people finding different reasons why we didn’t win. But we need to be calm and keep going.”