Thomas Tuchel laments Chelsea’s lack of cutting edge against Man City but insists they did not deserve to lose

Thomas Tuchel laid into Chelsea’s attack after defeat to Manchester City effectively killed off their title hopes.

But the German insisted his side did not deserve to lose to the Premier League champions, with Kevin de Bruyne’s stunning second-half strike enough to settle the game.

Chelsea went into the match knowing only a win would keep their slim hopes of reeling City in alive. But defeat leaves them 13 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s side and looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack.

Tuchel blamed his team’s lack of cutting edge for failing to halt City’s relentless march towards the title.

He said: “We could have had much more chances if we played with better timing, better precision.

“The performance in the first half in the opponents’ half, we had eight or nine transition chances and out of them we didn’t have a touch in the box. That’s what I’m critical about.

“That you miss chances, there is no problem in that. Everybody wants to score from every big chance and of course you don’t get a lot in top games. But efficiency - you need a bit of luck and composure.

“We could have had much more chances, that’s what I’m critical about. The ball losses were too early and we were too poor in decision-making and timing. That was not on the level that we need on this kind of level of football match.”

City dominated possession, even if they created few clear-cut chances. But Tuchel believed his side could have walked away with something from the game.

“For the same performance we won games against them, for the same we drew,” he said. “The individual quality of Kevin De Bruyne made the difference today.

“We struggled offensively to show the same quality and the type of quality that you need to really hurt them and to score the first goal and bring some doubts into their game.”