Enzo Maresca questions 'desire' of Chelsea stars as he apologises to fans after Brighton defeat

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Evening Standard

·14 de febrero de 2025

Enzo Maresca questions 'desire' of Chelsea stars as he apologises to fans after Brighton defeat

Enzo Maresca accused his Chelsea side of a lack of desire as he labelled Friday night’s defeat to Brighton the “worst performance” of his tenure.

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Enzo Maresca accused his Chelsea side of a lack of desire as he labelled Friday night’s defeat to Brighton the “worst performance” of his tenure.

Chelsea’s miserable run of midseason form continued as a sensational goal from Kaoru Mitoma was followed by Yankuba Minteh’s double.

Maresca’s side have won just three of their last 11 games across competitions and the defeat at the Amex Stadium was their second in the space of six days, following last weekend’s FA Cup exit to the same opponents.

“Probably since I arrived that is the worst performance, especially in the moment we are in,” Maresca said “We are fourth in the league and winning tonight you can go one point from third and make the gap to the rest bigger and the performance is not one you want to offer. So, we are very upset and sorry for the fans that were here.”

Chelsea started brightly but faded badly after Noni Madueke was forced off with a hamstring injury midway through the first half, minutes before Mitoma’s stunning opener.

The lack of response from Maresca’s side was alarming, with the Blues failing to muster a single shot on target across the 90 minutes, and they could end the weekend as low as sixth.

The travelling support made their frustration clear, chanting “We want our Chelsea back”, as well as the name of former owner Roman Abramovich.

“Everywhere is the same, when you win games the fans are happy and when you don’t they are upset,” Maresca said.

“In this moment, they’re completely right to be upset, especially at this moment of the season, with the chance we have to bring this club to where it has to be, the desire we showed was not enough.”