Frank Lampard admits Chelsea 'weren't at their best' in United defeat | OneFootball

Sometimes in football, you deserve to get beaten and sometimes you’re beaten by a moment of pure magic.

On Wednesday, it was a case of the latter as Marcus Rashford smashed as good of a free-kick as you’ll ever see from roughly 35 yards out to complete his brace and give Manchester United a 2-1 EFL Cup round-of-16 victory over Chelsea.

In his post-match press conference, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard applauded Rashford’s effort and admitted his Blues side were far from perfect on the night.

“The second goal doesn’t come into the equation because that’s just a bolt from the blue. No team can stop that.

“In terms of the way we weren’t at our best – we were a little slow with our passing in the first half and when a team lines up as Newcastle did here with five and two in front of them, if you don’t break the lines and move it’s tough.

“We were a little that way in the first half and in the second we weren’t clinical enough. We created chances, changed our game and looked really bright.

“I loved the first half an hour of the second half and I thought we deserved our goal.

“It (Rashford’s free-kick) was great technique. We’ve seen Marcus Rashford hit balls with that technique before and whoever you are in the world they don’t always go into the top corner, they sometimes go elsewhere.

“But you can’t take it away from him that it was a great strike.”

The loss ended Chelsea’s run of seven consecutive wins in all competitions. The Blues will now attempt to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to face Watford.