Chelsea recorded their third straight defeat under Graham Potter after a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The result means Manchester City progressed to the next stage of the Carabao Cup. A brilliant free kick from Riyad Mahrez gave the host the lead in the second half after being denied multiple times by Eduoard Mendy in the first half.
Julian Alvarez added Manchester City’s second for the night from close range after tapping in o a rebound. Chelsea pulled one back through Kai Havertz but it was ruled out for offside.
One Chelsea player that had very one standing on his feet was 18-year –old Lewis Hall. Graham Potter handed the Chelsea youngster his debut against Manchester City. Lewis Hall was Chelsea’s best player for the night and could have crowned the night with a goal after being denied twice by Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Graham Potter has hailed the performance of the Chelsea academy product as he put on a performance worth remembering.
What did Graham Potter say about the performance of Lewis Hall?
Reacting to the performance of Lewis Hall after the game, Graham Potter said on SkySport: “Lewis Hall did brilliantly. Fantastic performance. Great quality great effort. You can see he can take the ball, He took responsibility.
“Putting the ball in the net is the hardest thing and that’s all he didn’t do today but everything he did do was fantastic.”
The blues has one only game in their last six games in all competition, with only a win coming against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. Chelsea have also now lost three games in a row, against Brighton, Arsenal in the Premier League, and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.
Chelsea are also winless in their last four Premier League matches and Newcastle United is their opponent in the Premier League before the World Cup break.
However, Graham Potter is impressed with Chelsea’s performance against Manchester City.
He added: “I thought there were quite a few positives. Obviously, we’re disappointed with the result but in terms of how we played, we created some good chances, and there was a better structure and performance level.
“The team looked closer to what we want it to look like [compared to Arsenal]. The boys had great courage and they tried against a top team. Their goalkeeper got man of the match and I think that tells a little bit of the story. But overall, I think it was a step forward for us.”
On the decision to start Lewis Hall, Graham Potter said: “My experience of these games is that there is always someone who emerges.
“Obviously we hope it’s Lewis but it could be someone else. That’s the beauty of the game.
“We want to try and win but it’s important that guys who train with the team get a chance to play as well.”
Will Graham Potter hand Lewis Hall his Premier League debut against Newcastle United with injuries to Ben Chilwell and Reece James?