Antonio Conte says his makeshift Chelsea side ‘suffered’ in their win against Tottenham but held out because of his team’s ‘great desire’.
Marcos Alonso put the Blues ahead with a stunning free-kick midway through the first half but Michy Batshuayi’s own goal looked to have given Spurs a share of the spoils.
However, Alonso struck again five minutes from time to give a depleted Chelsea side victory at Wembley and their first win of the season.
Conte was forced into four changes against Mauricio Pochettino’s side and Tiemoue Bakayoko played a full 90 minutes despite missing the whole of pre-season.
The Italian boss admits his side went through the pain barrier against Spurs but praised his team for showing ‘great heart’ to come back.
‘I think I must be pleased,’ said Conte.
‘I want to thank my players. They won because they showed me great desire, great spirit, great will, great heart to fish and I saw fighters today.
‘For sure I saw a lot of positive things in a moment that’s not easy for us with suspensions and injuries. To play against Spurs and to win is fantastic.
‘It’s not easy and we suffered during the game but it’s normal. We always tried to be dangerous in every moment of the game. We were ready to score the second goal.’
COMMENTS