Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was pleased as his team returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, with his players regaining the lead after equalizing late in the first half.
Chelsea ended a five-match winless streak in the Premier League with second-half goals from Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke after Tosin Adarabioyo’s opener was canceled out by Matt Doherty’s goal for the visitors.
After two draws in their last two matches and losing an early lead, Maresca praised his team’s response to win at home, which secured them fourth place.
“The performance up to 40 minutes was very good, but in the last five minutes we had problems. They scored a goal and we lost a bit of confidence, which has happened several times this season,” Maresca said. BBC.
“We have to learn to deal with these situations better. We started the second half well and scored goals. Overall, I think we deserved to win this match. We reacted well in the second half. After five games without a win, it’s not easy. That’s why it was important to win this match,” he added.
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Chelsea, who were second last month, are now on 40 points, four points behind third-placed Nottingham Forest and second-placed Arsenal.
When asked about his defensive mistakes, the Italian manager denied that his 27 goals conceded in the Premier League prevented his team from fighting for a higher position in the table.
If I’m not mistaken, only four or five teams in the league have conceded fewer goals than us. So why (ask about) the problem defensively?” – Maresca said.
“I think the balance between offense and defense is quite good. Then you can concede a goal in any way,” he added.
Maresca also came to the defense of goalkeeper Roberto Sanchez after the Spaniard gave Wolves an equalizer by taking a corner kick that ended with Doherty scoring.
“It’s part of our job when you make mistakes. Robert saved us many times, it happens, no problem,” he said.
