Maurizio Sarri is sure that Chelsea are improving under his stewardship - despite losing 2-0 to Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Two second half goals from Sadio Mane and Mo Salah consigned the Blues to a first defeat in five games and dealt a blow to their top four hopes, but despite a three minute spell that saw Chelsea go two down they had their chances to win the game.
Eden Hazard hit the post and struck the ball straight at Alisson in what were glorious chances to claw goals back as Chelsea attempted to get back on level terms despite Liverpool being the better of the two teams.
The side have come a long way from the 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City in February and the performance has shown that Sarri has learnt and shown a willingness to adapt his tactics, with Chelsea having far less of the ball than their counterparts in red.
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While Sarri knows it is hard to make up the gap that exists between Liverpool, Manchester City and the rest of the Premier League, he believes that the defeat showed that Chelsea are improving.
He said: "Of course Liverpool is one of the best teams in the world.They played very well for 90 minutes but I think that we stayed in the match very well today. We were a bit unlucky for the second goal, for the timing of course because Salah is a talent.
"The second goal was a little bit unlucky for the timing and then in three minutes we had three goal chances, two with Hazard and one with Higuain.
"We hit the post for the 35th time this season but I really am very happy with the performance because we stayed in the match very well, probably three months ago we were not able to stay in this game so we are improving.
"It's very difficult to cover the gap in England because the level is very high, to cover the gap against Liverpool or City is very difficult but now we are really very close to the other teams."
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