Cesar Azpilicueta has apologised to Chelsea fans after their humiliating 6-0 defeat by Manchester City, describing it as one of the lowest points in his professional career.
Maurizio Sarri’s team crashed to their heaviest loss since 1991 as the Premier League champions ran riot at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The heavy defeat saw Chelsea slip below Arsenal to sixth in the table on goals scored and raised further questions over the future of Sarri.
“It’s difficult to find the words to describe my feeling after the game,” defender Azpilicueta, who was given a torrid time by two-goal City winger Raheem Sterling, told the club’s website.
“It is one of the worst nights in my career. It’s very frustrating, it’s very disappointing.
“When you lose 6-0 everyone has to accept they didn’t play well. The only thing I can say to the fans is ‘sorry’, because it’s not acceptable, and I feel sorry for all of them.”
It was Chelsea’s third defeat in four Premier League games, coming after a 2-0 loss at Arsenal and a 4-0 thrashing by Bournemouth. The only relief during that period was a 5-0 victory over bottom side Huddersfield.
Aguero hat-trick
Sterling struck early at the Etihad before Sergio Aguero hit a quickfire double and Ilkay Gundogan made it 4-0 just after the midway point of the first half.
Argentine striker Aguero completed his hat-trick with a second-half penalty before Sterling scored again late to complete the rout.
It could even have been worse for Chelsea as Aguero missed a good early chance and also hit the bar.
Azpilicueta, who conceded the penalty for Aguero’s third goal, said: “We have lost big games in the first minutes and we are conceding a lot of goals. We cannot accept that.
“We knew we had one of the best teams in front of us and we knew it would be tough.”
“When we won against them at Stamford Bridge it was because we played a very good game all together. This time it was not the case. To lose in this way is very disappointing,” added the 29-year-old Spanish international.
