Antonio Conte feels Chelsea deserved at least a draw against Crystal Palace in the wake of its surprise 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Premier League leader appeared to be on its way to victory when Cesc Fabregas handed them the lead after just five minutes, but Palace quickly turned things around with two goals in as many minutes from Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke.
Chelsea came close to levelling the scores on a number of occasions, but Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey proved to be too much of an obstacle.
"I think we deserved at least a draw. We created many chances," Conte said.
"But this is football. We must accept this result.
"We scored our goal after five minutes and then we conceded two in a few minutes. When you concede goals in that way you must understand the situation and improve on those mistakes.
"In every game in England, anything can happen. The league is so strong. We faced a team today with strong players. I think they showed they were a good team."
Chelsea still holds a seven-point lead over Tottenham at the summit, but Conte acknowledged it cannot afford to slip up again when it meets Manchester City on Wednesday.
"Now we have to think about the next game," he added.
"If we had won we would have been happy but now it is important to focus on Manchester City.
"It will be a tough game, but every game from here on will be tough."
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