BOSS Eddie Howe felt quality rather than tactics had been the difference as Cherries’ five-match unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Chelsea.

Howe was left to rue seeing Cherries concede two disappointing early goals as the Londoners raced into a 2-0 lead after just 20 minutes at Vitality Stadium.

And although Joshua King halved the deficit with a stunning strike on the stroke of half-time, Marcos Alonso’s sublime free-kick sealed victory for the leaders.

Asked whether he felt Cherries had been beaten by the new champions, Howe said: “They played very well. Whether or not they are champions, only time will tell.

“They are a very good team, both individually and tactically. We found it difficult but we had our moments.

“Their system gives you a problem. To win any game, you need the ball and to get the ball off them is quite difficult.

“You need to try to stop them scoring and we struggled with that, especially with the first goal which I was disappointed with.

“We looked a bit too passive with our defending. They were slightly fortutious with the way it ended up in the net but that was a consequence of the system.

“I felt we could have done a lot better. We gave away the ball in the middle of the pitch for the second goal and they just showed how lethal they can be in those positions. No matter how much you prepare for it, it is difficult to stop.”

Howe admitted he had been “torn” over whether to match Chelsea’s formation or stick with his own: “We went with our way against theirs.

“When we went to Stamford Bridge, we went their way and tried to find a way to combat them but that didn’t work either.

“I think we have been competitive in both games and it has just been their quality that has made the difference rather than anything tactical.

“We will review the game and see where we could have done better but I think it was down to the quality of their players.”

Howe added: “It was a slightly disappointing performance overall but you have to take a few things into account. Chelsea were very good at times and are a very difficult team to play against.

“The key thing is that it is difficult to chase a game against them and that was what we made ourselves do by going 2-0 down.

“From that point, it was always going to be tough because you have to commit bodies forward and they are so good on the counter-attack.

“Their system is really good and it lends itself to that but also the calibre of players they have in key positions makes them a big threat.

“They are difficult to stop and are so good on transitions. They have scored so many goals this season from those situations and did it again against us.”