Saturday 23 April 2016 19:13, UK
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe admitted he was disappointed with the way his side fell away in the second half of their 4-1 defeat against Chelsea.
Pedro and Eden Hazard scored in the first half for Chelsea before Tommy Elphick pulled one back, but Willian and Hazard again struck after the break at the Vitality Stadium.
"I thought we were excellent [in the first half]," Howe told Sky Sports. We were everything we wanted to be, we were energetic, played with real quality, created a number of chances so I was very pleased at half-time.
"Second half, we found it a little bit more difficult, Chelsea kept the ball very well and killed the game with the third goal.
"I thought it was a game of real quality in the first half, they played very well and they were motivated for the game, playing a very strong team, so it was a really good test for us and I thought we came through that test, albeit we were behind at half-time.
"I was really pleased with lots of elements of our play, so plenty of positives to take, but the disappointment was the second-half performance.
"We felt second half we came on strong and the disappointment was they went up a level and we didn't match the levels of our first half. Their quality showed and they counter-attacked very well and it became very difficult for us to get a grip of the game.
"They were really clinical with their chances and that was probably the biggest difference between the teams. When their chances came they took them."
While Bournemouth goalscorer Elphick also lamented his side's dip after the break.
"We flattened right out," he told Sky Sports. "We put so much into the first half and we were in the game until 70 minutes [and the] third goal was a real sucker punch.
"I felt like we were the better team first half, but through our endeavour to try and score and attack we were very naive with all four goals. They're top-class players but we've been preparing for it all week and we knew what was coming, this is the level we're at.
"There are going to be more tests like this hopefully next season and from now until the end so we've got to get used to playing these players and become a bit more streetwise.
"Sometimes we're empty in the middle of the pitch and make it too easy for teams to attack us."
