‘The worst performance since I arrived’ – Maresca on Chelsea’s heavy defeat to Brighton | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca says Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton was “probably the worst performance” since he took over at the club.

The Blues were beaten by Brighton for the second game on the spin having lost in the FA Cup to the same opponents last week.

Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring with a fantastic solo goal before Yakuba Minteh scored a double, one in either half, to secure a comfortable win for the Seagulls.

Chelsea failed to have a shot on target in the game and Maresca says he feels sorry for the fans who went to watch the game.

“Tonight is probably the worst performance since I arrived,” Maresca told Sky Sports after the game.

“With this result, the frustration is about everything. We feel really sorry for the fans who came here.

“In the moment we are in, the position we are in, 14 games to go and now 13 games to go, probably we need to do much, much better than what we have done tonight.

“It’s not the right performance that we can offer, especially in this moment of the season, but now is the moment that we stick together and try to finish in the best way.

“It’s not the best moment but we are still fourth and we are still in the race to finish well.”

Chelsea could fall out of the top four by the end of the weekend if other results go against them and Maresca says his side have a lot to improve.

He continued: “I said before, when you don’t have a real nine and a threat in behind that can always be a threat, you have to find different solutions.

“I think we arrived quite well to the edge of the box and from there, we struggled in the last third.

“It’s not only about creating chances but in general, hopefully it can be a turning point from tonight.

“When you play a game like tonight, there are many things that you have to do better.

“We are in a moment where the feeling is that we can concede easily and we struggle to score, but for different reasons and the injuries for sure.

“There are many things that we need to do better.

“It’s not only mentally when you play this kind of game in the moment we are in and the situation we are in.”