Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was delighted with the team’s performance in the late 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, which dented their Champions League hopes......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Enzo Fernandez gave Chelsea the lead in the ninth minute before Marco Asensio scored two second half goals to hand the hosts the maximum points.
Maresca’s Chelsea have now lost their last three matches in all competitions, including their last two in the Premier League to slip out of the top four.
The Italian manager was impressed with the players reaction to the defeat against Brighton, showing intent and purpose against Aston Villa before losing at the closing moments of the game.
He said: “This is, for me, probably the toughest defeat of the season. The reason why is because the reaction from Brighton was brilliant, the performance was very good and unfortunately, at this moment, it is not enough. That’s why it is a tough one.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, to be honest. In this league, you have to be clinical. The difference most of the time is inside of the box. Unfortunately at 1-0 up we had some chances and didn’t score, at 1-1, we had some chances and didn’t score. In the end, anything can happen and unfortunately we lost the game.”
The Blues failed to convert their chances and their defensive frailty caused them another defeat with Philip Jorgensen at fault for Aston Villa’s winning goal, allowing Asensio’s tame effort to slide underneath him.
Maresca believes Chelsea lost the game because of their inability to take their chances in both boxes.
He said: “That chance [from Palmer] would’ve changed completely the game. For me, it is quite similar to Filip — this is a moment where we are unfortunately in a bad run in terms of results but we are still there. Today’s performance compared to the performance at Brighton was much, much, much better.
“[Now] this is a moment where we need to support each other, be strong and continue to work hard. I have a feeling in this moment that we need to win a game to go again. But now, the good thing in two or three days we have one more game at home and hopefully we can finally, with our fans in our stadium, try to get the three points and from there, start again and try to go again.”
Villa have won 18 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other team, while 13 of the 15 points Chelsea have dropped from winning positions in 2024/25 have come since Boxing Day 2024 – more than any other side.
Chelsea have now won two out of their last ten Premier League matches.
The Blues will be hoping for an instant reaction against Southampton on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge.