Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has openly admitted his team’s performance was subpar. His side suffered a significant 3-1 loss to Leeds United on Wednesday night. Maresca conceded that the Blues did not deserve a positive result from the match at Elland Road.
Leeds took an early lead, scoring twice before half-time. Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka were the goalscorers. This left Chelsea with a difficult task. Pedro Neto offered the visitors a glimmer of hope after the break. However, Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed Leeds’ victory. He capitalized on a loose defensive pass from Chelsea.
This defeat puts Chelsea nine points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal. Maresca openly expressed his frustration. He spoke on the BBC’s Match of the Day.
Maresca described the night as “very poor.” He acknowledged Leeds deserved the win. “They were better in all aspects,” he stated. “We will analyse and learn from this game. Then we focus on the next one.” He added that Chelsea had chances after their goal. However, “the third goal killed the game completely.” This made a comeback “much more difficult.”
Key Absences Impact Performance
Maresca later pointed to key player absences as a contributing factor. Midfielder Moises Caicedo was notably missed. He is serving a three-match suspension. Caicedo received a red card against Arsenal. Playmaker Cole Palmer was also not fully fit. He is still recovering from an injury.
“We missed Moi tonight,” Maresca reiterated. “We will miss Moi in the next game as well.” He described Caicedo as an “important player.” Maresca drew parallels to missing Palmer and other crucial players. “Moi is an important player for any team globally,” he stressed. “He is top.”
It is worth noting that Palmer came on as a second-half substitute. He had been sidelined for several weeks prior to this appearance.
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