Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois accepted his team were outplayed by Arsenal in The Emirates FA Cup Final.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring after four minutes, and the Gunners hit the post twice before the interval.
Diego Costa did get Chelsea back on level terms, moments after they were reduced to 10 men when Victor Moses saw red.
But Aaron Ramsey headed Arsenal’s winner and Courtois had no complaints with the result.
“We are disappointed, but congratulations to Arsenal because they played very well,” said the Belgium stopper.
“We tried to play but they were better, created more chances and they deserved it.
“Once we went to 10 [men] – I think the red card was correct – then we scored so we had some hope. But if you concede straight afterwards then you know it will be very hard.”
Though Chelsea were still able to level shortly after Moses was sent off, boss Antonio Conte felt the red card was the turning point.
“In the second half we deserved to draw for sure, but the red card for Moses was decisive,” said Conte.
“The first goal was very strange, but in the first half we didn’t start well. It wasn’t the right approach, we suffered in the first 20 minutes and then we started to play.
“They started very well with a great determination and they surprised us a bit. In the second half in our best moment the referee decided to give a red card.
“There is disappointment for the final result. But our season was great.
“It was incredible to win the league in this way. If we finished with a win the season that would have been incredible, but now it’s important to go forwards and to restart.”
Chelsea had won the Premier League at a canter, registering 30 wins from 38 matches.
But Courtois refused the notion that they may have taken their eye off the ball at Wembley Stadium.
“I’ve never won an FA Cup, so I had a lot of hunger to win it,” Courtois added.
“We play as a team and perhaps we weren’t all at our best, but we will try again next year.”
