The Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino recognised his players and his fellow colleagues by appreciating them for yesterday's 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium.
The Blues managed to mount pressure onto the Citizens alias Sky Blues through Raheem Sterling at the forty-two minute in first half but unfortunately failed to secure a win at Etihad Stadium when Rodri equalised at the eighty-three minute for Manchester City and it ended 1-1.
During his post-match press conference, Pochettino elucidated that Chelsea had to be brave as well as solid defensively in order to leave Manchester with something.
"It's about the players to deliver on the job," Pochettino said. "They showed character today.
"I think we tried to prepare, all the coaching staff, to prepare and make the game plan and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
"But football is a game that belongs to the players and today the execution and performance was from them.
"We know very well how Manchester City play here at the Etihad and it's important to sustain the capacity to dominate and force you to play deep.
"And if you are not brave enough when you have the ball and you force them to run back and make effort, then it's going to be like in the second half, you cannot leave your box or own half.
"For us, it was a really important game to keep the momentum, to realise we are in a good way and improving.
"Still we are not at the level of Manchester City but that is our aim and of course, we are a very young team that needs this type of game to improve and to create a spirit that we need to show in every single game.
"You want to be competitive because I think from the beginning we were one of the best teams in the way we perform, create chances and I think after 15 games, we deserved to be in the top four.
"But football is not only to show good quality and be nice, it's to be competitive and today the team has definitely showed we can be competitive also and play well."
Chelsea's next match was against Tottenham on Friday 23rd February 2024 but was postponed due to the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool which will take place on Sunday 25th February, 2024 at Wembley Stadium.
