Frank Lampard admitted that his side were not at their best and praised Everton's game plan following Saturday's game at Goodison Park.
The Blues secured a 1-0 win thanks to a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty in the first half of the game after a fantastic performance across the pitch, especially in a defensive sense.
The visitors rallied somewhat immediately following the only goal of the game but Carlo Ancelotti's side stayed resolute in a new system and managed to keep Lampard's side at arm's length for most of the affair.
And the manager of the west London side later admitted that they knew how difficult Everton can make it for teams from their performance at Goodison Park last season, which ended in a 3-1 win for the Blues.
When asked about the performance of his side, Lampard told BT Sport: “Not our best.
“The first 20 minutes or so were key. I knew it was coming, some longer balls and second balls from a team desperate for a win and the capabilities to make it difficult as we found out last year.
“When you go 1-0 down against them it absolutely suits their gameplan to make it difficult for us, they did it really well.
“We didn't have enough from then on. If they're going to make it difficult for you, don't concede early with a long-ball, second ball situation that we talked about.
“And then don't struggle to create like we had been doing. Credit to Everton because they made it really tough.
“When teams are going to play long and have one of the best, if not the best, strikers in the league in terms of heading and making it difficult for second moments then there's going to be tough moments in the game.”
"The game was the game. In the first 20 minutes it was clear it was going to be physical and an edge to the game, we weren't quite on the edge.
"After that we didn't find enough answers. Some of that will be how well they defended and were organised in their own half against us, some of that is on us. That happens in football."
