Cristian Stellini's verdict on Sheffield United
Cristian Stellini pointed to a lack of energy on ‘a difficult night’ as we bowed out of the FA Cup against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Wednesday evening.
Iliman Ndiaye’s solo goal on 79 minutes proved decisive in the fifth round tie.
There were few clear-cut chances but we created enough - Richarlison fired over from the angle and Lucas Moura floated a cross onto the crossbar in the first half, Ivan Perisic tested Wes Foderingham with a glancing header and, in added time, Harry Kane uncharacteristically headed wide from Perisic’s cross.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY at Bramall Lane, Cristian told us: “Yes, a difficult night, because our expectation was to play with more energy, to create more problems to them.
“We had some chances to score, but we were not perfect in the last pass, or to find the target. We needed more energy. Our effort was good, we don’t complain for the effort, but the energy had to be different.”
Asked why those energy levels were down after such a positive performance and win against Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, Cristian responded: “We played three days ago, we changed the team to find the same energy we had in the last game, but we didn’t play with the same energy.
“When we dropped a bit our pace in the game, they found a goal, but they didn’t have many chances to score. I’m disappointed. We had to play differently.
“Everyone is disappointed because it was an important target, the FA Cup. Now, the FA Cup has gone. We have other chances, other competitions, other games. This is football. You have to keep going and find again the same desire. We have to apologise to our fans, because they deserved a win.”