Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri was pleased with the 'confidence' of his players after they took a narrow advantage in the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie against Malmo.
The Blues had suffered their heaviest defeat in any competition since 1991 when they were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City last Sunday, but goals from Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud gave them the win in Sweden.
Sarri was pleased with the performance and felt that Chelsea deserved to win by a wider margin, with Malmo keeper Johan Dahlin making a couple of important saves.
"I think we played a good match against a team who are very physical, we were scared a bit of set pieces," said Sarri, quoted by BBC Sport.
Two away goals and a lead to take back to the Bridge! #MALCHE pic.twitter.com/4vJjHIlqhb
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 14, 2019
"I am happy because we played with confidence and it wasn't really very easy after the last match
"Yes, we played very well and we conceded on a mistake and that can happen but the level of attention was really very good for 90 minutes so I am very happy, but we know we have to gain the qualification in the next match," added Sarri.
"I think I am always confident but sometimes we had the wrong approach with matches so we need to be careful in every match."
Chelsea now face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Monday before the return leg against Malmo at Stamford Bridge next Thursday.
Source : 90min