"We didn't play well, that is clear," said Benitez.
"We made too many mistakes in defence and gave the ball away too easily. To concede three goals in the way we did at the end of the first half we must be disappointed.
"We were really poor at the end of the first half. If you make a mistake and concede just one, then okay you can change it and make things better in the second half, but to concede three goals made it very difficult for us.
"The commitment of the players was much better in the second half. We scored two goals and had other opportunities but it was difficult because they were playing well on the counter attack. The second half was better than the first."