Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has denied claims of criticising Romelu Lukaku after defeat at Manchester City.

Tuchel, after a snappy television interview, was asked to expand on apparent criticism of his centre-forward.

"Stop, no, stop. I was not critical about the chances we missed. Not true," Tuchel hit back with.

"We had not enough chances for the ball wins, the movements, the opportunities that we could have had. We could have had many more chances if we played with better timing and precision. It is simply like this.

"The performance in the first half in the opponents' half, we had eight or nine transition chances and out of them, we didn't have a touch in the box. That's what I'm critical about.

"That you miss chances, there is no problem in that. Everybody wants to score from every big chance and, of course, you don't get a lot in top games. But efficiency, you need a bit of luck and composure.

"We could have had much more chances, that's what I'm critical about. The ball losses were too early and we were too poor in decision making and timing. That was not on the level that we need on this kind of level of football match."