“That is the reason” – Enzo Maresca explains why he didn’t celebrate Chelsea’s win with fans | OneFootball

Chelsea have just beaten Fulham 2-1 with two late goals, a potentially massive moment in the race for the top 5. The players all went to celebrate with the away fans, who have been on their back a lot recently. It looked like a good chance to build bridges.

But the BBC’s Nizaar Kinsella, on location at Craven Cottage, noticed that the man who got the most grief from the fans, manager Enzo Maresca, didn’t stick around to soak up the applause:

“It was curious that after the match manager Enzo Maresca only briefly celebrated with his coaching staff before going down the tunnel. The rest of the players and coaching staff were wildly celebrating a last minute winner.”

Kinsella then wondered what the coach would say about his reaction in the press conference after the game, and we now have the answer from the man himself:

“I was very happy because it is a nice feeling to win the game at the end. The players deserve to celebrate with the fans, that is the reason why I left the pitch early. It was a nice moment for the players and the fans,” Maresca said.

Maresca standoff likely to continue despite positive moment

Enzo Maresca applauds the fans. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Despite today’s good result and good vibes, it doesn’t feel like the tension is going anywhere anytime soon. Maresca has set his stall out – he’s not going to change his style of football. And Chelsea fans aren’t suddenly going to start enjoying it all of a sudden.

Of course, what could happen is that results improve to the point that nobody minds the boring football we play – but we’ve got a long way to go before that’s the case. Either way, he’s bought himself a lot of time and some credit this afternoon.