Antonio Conte insists he is proud of his Chelsea players and cannot fault their effort in this evening's 1-0 defeat against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.

An early season fixture between two Premier League title contenders was won by a sweet 25-yard strike from Kevin De Bruyne, after the Belgian played a neat one-two with Gabriel Jesus.




Chelsea could not hit back and slipped to defeat, with Manchester City going back to the top of the Premier League table with the three points.

For Conte, Manchester City are a team that can make life difficult for opponents, but the Italian is pleased with the effort his men put in and how they fought for the shirt.
 


"It was a tough game but we know very well that Manchester City are a big team and it's very difficult to play this type of game", Conte said on BT Sport.

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"I think that we gave everything today and I am happy with the commitment and desire from all my players.

"They had the will to fight against a very strong team.

"In this type of game you need time to recover, if you are tired it is not simple to go box to box. 

"Today we created chances but we didn't take them. Manchester City had chances and they took them", he added.

And Conte, who is sweating on the fitness of Alvaro Morata after he was forced off during the course of the game with a hamstring injury, declared himself proud to coach the Chelsea squad.

"It is logical when you play three games in seven days you risk something.

"I hope it is not a serious injury for Morata. It is his hamstring but we don't know if it is a serious problem.

"We move on, we rest and I am very proud to be the coach of these players."