Pep Guardiola’s side took all three points from SW6 in what could be described as a classic “game of two halves”. There was nothing separating the two teams in the first half, with chances fashioned at both ends, but a 17-minute spell after half-time, which yielded three goals for the visitors, saw City take the game away from us.

Strikes from Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku saw the Manchester side secure victory, with Hato – who played at centre-back alongside Wesley Fofana – pinpointing that our sluggish start to the second period is what prevented us from taking anything from the game.

‘It’s disappointing because of how we started the second half,’ Hato commented after the game.

‘I think the first half was a good game from both sides. We created some chances, they had some chances too but as soon as we conceded the first goal in the second half, we seemed to lose our shape and in the end they took the game away from us and it wasn’t good enough [our response].

‘It’s clear that the way we started the second half wasn’t good and to be fair to City, they had three or four chances in five minutes and we struggled to get hold of the ball higher up the pitch.

‘The way we came out of the changing room [for the second half] wasn’t good enough and once they scored, it seemed like the level dropped. We have to be better than this.’

The result sees Liam Rosenior’s Blues remain in sixth place and still very much in the hunt for a top five finish in the race to secure Champions League football for next season. However, teams below us have tightened the gap.

Hato explained that the squad know we need to return to winning ways quickly to secure our aims, and that starts with a big game against the red side of Manchester – United – who head to SW6 on Saturday evening.

‘We still have a very good chance to get Champions League football for next season, but we know we need to be better in our performances,’ added the Dutch defender.

‘For a club like Chelsea, we expect to be competing at the top and we want to reach the Champions League next season again. So we have to improve, and we have to be better.

‘We have six games left in the Premier League so we have a lot to fight for but we know we need to improve, forgot this one quickly and move onto another big game next week.’