N'Golo Kante told SFR Sport that Christian Eriksen's spectacular long-range equaliser caught Chelsea by surprise but that Tottenham were deserving winners at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Eriksen rifled a dipping shot beyond Willy Caballero from 25 yards in first-half injury time to cancel out Alvaro Morata's headed opener, and two goals from Dele Alli after the break secured Spurs a 3-1 win -- the first win at the home of their London rivals for 28 years.
After the match, Antonio Conte claimed that clinical finishing was the only difference between the two teams, but Kante admitted that Tottenham's ability to control possession at Stamford Bridge also played a key role in the victory.
"We started the game well, we opened the scoring," Kante said. "Then there was that great shot by Eriksen that took everyone by surprise. I think they caused us problems with the way they kept the ball.
"They deserved to win. There are some matches left. We have to believe we can do it and see what we can do."
The result leaves Chelsea fifth in the Premier League, eight points behind Tottenham and 10 adrift of Liverpool with seven games remaining, and their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League all but ended.
"Definitely having an eight-point gap with seven games go is a lot, especially seeing who is ahead and how they are going -- it's not easy," Conte told Sky Italia. "But we knew it was going to be a tough situation from the start of the season and it's confirming it during the season.
"I'm trying to work and we've got our heads down and working really hard. At a certain stage, you've got to give explanations and not go crazy because there are situations you can't change."
Conte also said that Pedro Rodriguez and Davide Zappacosta are injured, which is why they were absent from Chelsea's substitutes' bench against Spurs.
"The bench was how it was -- Zappacosta has been carrying a tendon problem and yesterday he didn't change," he said. "Pedro had this physical problem on Friday, but this is how it is -- we can't invent anything else."