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Norwich boss Alex Neil frustrated by Chelsea's 'offside' goal

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Norwich manager Alex Neil says he is disappointed with the manner of the goals his side conceded against Chelsea as they lost 2-1 at Carrow Road

Norwich manager Alex Neil was left disappointed by the manner of the goals conceded in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.

The Canaries conceded the quickest goal of the Premier League season to Kenedy after 39 seconds before Diego Costa doubled Chelsea's lead before half-time, despite appearing to be in an offside position.

Nathan Redmond pulled a goal back for Norwich but they were unable to force an equaliser much to Neil's frustration.

"It's the story of the recent games for us," Neil said. "We performed well, created chances but if you are going to concede a goal after 39 seconds it's always going to be a tough day.

"The first goal's a real disappointment for us. There are six players behind the ball and the left-back scores. I'm extremely frustrated about that and then the second goal is offside.

"You'd expect the officials to get that right so we are disappointed about that. However, we've done everything we possibly could to get something out of the game in the second-half."

Neil praised his players' efforts throughout the game but said they must improve at both ends of the pitch or face "the same old story" in their forthcoming matches.

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Alex Neil Manager of Norwich City gestures during the Barclays Premier League match between Norwich City and Chelsea at Carrow Road
Image: Alex Neil (left) was frustrated by the goals his side conceded against Chelsea

"I felt we could get an equaliser," added Neil. "When it was 2-1 we looked like a team that was controlling the game and we were having the pressure.

"I'd have liked for us to create a few clearer chances but Chelsea sat in and tried to make it difficult. All you can ask is for your players to give everything they've got and I thought second-half we did that.

"We've worked hard in the last three or four matches and they are matches where I think we've deserved more than we've got.

"However, we can't keep having the same old story after games. We've got to make sure we don't give ourselves a mountain to climb because of sloppy defending to start with and when we do get opportunities we need to take them.

"We created some good chances today but we didn't hit the target often enough."

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