'They punished us': James on Chelsea conceding late equaliser vs Brentford

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Reece James expressed his frustration at Chelsea’s failure to secure all three points after conceding a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.

After a stop-start first half that saw the Blues trail at the break, second-half goals from Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo turned the game in their favour heading into stoppage time. But the hosts struck late to level, leaving James frustrated that Chelsea had not claimed victory in west London.

While the skipper acknowledged the importance of extending their unbeaten Premier League run, he felt his side deserved more.

“It’s disappointing not to win. We came here to win and we found ourselves a goal down, and we adapted the way we played and got ourselves back into the game. They are a strong team, and they punished us, We’re not happy with drawing, but we’ll keep fighting. We’ll have to accept the result and move forward," said James.

The full-back believes that a challenging opening half made it difficult for the Blues to take full control of the contest.

“There are many factors as to why the first half wasn’t good enough. It’s a difficult place to come and we’re coming into games after an international break and that’s always tough. It’s no excuse – we have super high standards here.

“They caught us on the counter [in the first half], and we were prepared for that, but we didn’t deal with it. The second one is a set-piece where they are super strong and we didn’t deal with it today,” he added.

With that no-excuse mindset, James knows that the Blues will have to be better heading into Wednesday’s Champions League contest against Bayern Munich.

“We came to win, and we dropped points today. We are disappointed but the game is done now. It’s time to focus on the next game," he said.

--IANS

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