Chelsea must fight back ―Courtois

Thibaut Courtois says Sunday’s game against Manchester United provides them with the perfect opportunity to bounce back from last night’s Champions League defeat in Rome.

The Blues went down 3-0 against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, with Stephan El Shaarawy scoring two first-half goals, before Diego Perotti extended the home side’s lead after the break.

The first of El Shaarawy’s two goals, a half-volley from outside the box, arrived inside the opening minute, and it was a defensive mix-up which allowed him to steal in and score his – and Roma’s – second.

“I’m not sure how he [El Shaarawy] scores that screamer but after 50 seconds you are a goal down,’ said Courtois.

“I shouted ‘away’ for the second goal but there was a lot of noise in the stadium and Cesar Azpilicueta let the ball go.

“I thought we played well in the first half but in the second half we seemed to drop our fighting spirit and I don’t know what happened.”

Last night’s result brought an end to Chelsea three-game winning sequence, with the Blues currently struggling to find the required levels of consistency within their game.

The team have been conceding more goals than usual of late, and Courtois believes that is one area which needs to be improved, starting on Sunday against Manchester United.

“It is hard to say what the problem is,” he said. “This season every game is a hard game. We have to find that balance again and rediscover that mentality of not conceding goals and keeping clean sheets.

“Sometimes last season I had nothing to do in a game, sometimes I’d have one save to make. We have to react on Sunday as this was a bad image of ourselves.

“We have to fight back against Manchester United.”