Pardew said: “We set out to try to hurt Chelsea but unfortunately they don’t just have world-class flair players, they also have world-class defensive players.
“There was no luck about their win but we pushed them all the way and are starting to show that we can match even the best sides.
“If it weren’t for Cole’s block on Reo-Coker in the first half, which was as good as the goal in my eyes, we might have got something. We need to follow this up now against Sheffield United next week.”
