Chelsea Under-23 midfielder Mukhtar Ali has explained that he experienced mixed feelings, following his side’s 2-1 loss to Swindon Town in an EFL Trophy game on Tuesday night.
The Blues, who headed into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the league last week, fell behind in the 18th minute after Raphael Rossi Branco’s header from a corner broke the deadlock at the County Ground.
Nathan Delfouneso then doubled the League One’s outfit’s lead in the 61st minute before Ali reduced the arrears for the visitors with a sublime finish from 25 yards in the 80th minute.
Despite Chelsea piling on pressure in search of the equaliser late on, Swindon Town managed to protect their slender lead and record a win.
And Ali insisted that although he was pleased to find the back of the net, he was left disappointed with the result.
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“I am happy to get on the scoresheet, but still disappointed that we lost”, he told Chelsea TV.
“We conceded two set-piece goals which was disappointing, but we did well towards the end and nearly got the equaliser late on.
“I thought we played better in the second half than we did in the first half.”
Ali’s injury setbacks have halted his progress this season, and the 19-year-old stated that he felt nice to be back playing again.
“I haven’t played a lot this season, I’ve been injured”, he continued.
“But it’s good to be out with the boys once again and I enjoyed it.”
