Defender Cesar Azpilicueta apologised to the club's fans after Chelsea suffered their worst defeat of the Premier League era, calling the 6-0 loss "one of the worst nights" of his career.

Sergio Aguero scored his second hat-trick in three games, Raheem Sterling netted twice, and Ilkay Gundogan got on the scoresheet. Azpilicueta spoke to Sky Sports (h/t Goal's Jamie Smith) after the result and didn't hold back in his assessment of Chelsea's display:

“It is one of the worst nights in my career. It is difficult to explain what happened.

“The first five or six minutes went well but that is not enough. It is very frustrating and disappointing. We are conceding a lot of goals and we cannot accept that.

“When you lose 6-0 we have to accept we didn’t play well and made errors. We knew it would be tough.

“When we won at Stamford Bridge [a 2-0 victory in December] it was because we played well and were together. Today was not the case.

“All I can do is apologise to the fans because it is not acceptable.”

OptaJoe attested to Sunday's defeat as Chelsea's worst since before the Premier League was formed:

There was no point during Sunday's trip north where Chelsea ever looked like a challenge to the defending Premier League champions, who went ahead through Sterling's first after only four minutes.

Azpilicueta has stood as a de facto leader of the Blues' defence for a number of years now, though even the right-back was made to look average by Chelsea's tormentors.

The verdict on Chelsea's performance as a whole was poor, but Azpilicueta didn't receive any more glowing individual reviews:

City moved back to the top of the Premier League on goal difference following Sunday's victory, while Chelsea fell down to sixth and are now 15 points off the pace being set by Pep Guardiola's men and Liverpool.

Azpilicueta was competent enough to own up to his mistakes, and Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri reacted with some accountability following such a heavy defeat, via Hayters TV:

Chelsea have become particularly shy away from home of late and failed to score in their four away matches in 2019, conceding 13 in the process.

Sarri and his players remain under the microscope at Stamford Bridge, with all eyes on Chelsea's response after what was a memorable afternoon at the Etihad—for all the wrong reasons.