Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink admits his side's defeat against Manchester City was a bad one.
The Blues suffered one of their heaviest defeats of the season at Stamford Bridge as they went down 3-0 to Manuel Pellegrini's side.
And the Dutchman says the Citizens were the better side and deserved to take all three points.
"It was of course a bad defeat," Hiddink said.
"We were playing a very strong team. Manchester City have proven that and it's not for nothing they're in the last four in Europe.
"We made some mistakes. We had control with some corners in the first half and we had already been warned twice that they could counter to harm us.
"It came from our corner and our advantage that they got the counter and made the first goal. The second goal was similar. It was a counter. That means we were in control but we didn't have the ultimate bite to kill it off.
"We had some half-chances - we didn't create open chances. The difference between us and Man City was that they needed one-and-a-half chances to score one goal.
"It's a difficult defeat.
"The 0-3 seems high and is high, but it's not that we were outplayed. It was three smart counter situations. There was not a big, big difference. The defeat is deserved but not so negative that we are now feeling desperate.
"It's difficult when you're playing an extremely intelligent team. It's difficult to get in to a duel when they make short triangles. We managed to do that a few times in the first half and we got some half-chances.
"There was no lack of fighting spirit but it's difficult when you have intelligent players playing around you. We have to respect the quality of the opponent."
