Enzo Maresca blasts 'very poor' Chelsea after damaging loss to Leeds

LONDON – Enzo Maresca slammed lacklustre Chelsea after their Premier League title challenge suffered a huge setback in a shock 3-1 defeat at lowly Leeds United on Wednesday.

Maresca’s side paid the price for a woeful first-half performance at Elland Road featuring Leeds goals from Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka.

Pedro Neto reduced the deficit after the interval but Chelsea conceded a farcical third goal to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the closing stages.

Losing to a fourth-bottom Leeds side beaten in their previous four games was a major setback to Chelsea’s hopes of competing with leaders Arsenal for the title.

The Blues’ first defeat in eight games in all competitions left them nine points behind Arsenal in fourth place.

“There was nobody at their best level,” Maresca said.

“They were better than us in all aspects, they deserved to win. A very poor night. We performed so well against Arsenal (1-1 draw) and Barcelona (3-0 win), but it doesn’t mean we are going to always perform the same way because of the situation you have to manage, the players you have to rotate.

“The only thing we can do is to try and understand what we did and then reset.”

Chelsea were without influential midfielder Moises Caicedo after the Ecuador star was sent off in Sunday’s stormy draw against Arsenal.

Maresca also rested Neto, Reece James, and Wesley Fofana in a bid to freshen up his side.

But the Blues still looked drained from facing Arsenal with 10 men for so long and Leeds took full advantage of their mental and physical fatigue.

“I hope we just had a bad night because it’s a game where you struggle to take anything from. They were much better in the duels,” Maresca added.

“It’s the Premier League, you need to perform every game, no matter if you are at home or away. We missed Moises tonight and will miss him in the next games. He is an important player for any team in the world.”

Chelsea had won just 29 per cent of their league matches when Caicedo was out of the starting line-up and they struggled again without their driving force.

At 1-0 down they could still fight back, but Leeds’ second goal in the 43rd minute was a rude awakening for Chelsea’s title prospects if Maresca was looking ahead to the end of the season.

The Blues have never come back to win a league away game when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.

Neto came off the bench to give them hope of ending that dismal streak in the 50th minute when he scored.

Maresca then sent on Cole Palmer for the England forward’s first appearance in two months after an injury-plagued spell that included fracturing his toe after stubbing it on a door.

Palmer’s introduction alongside winger Alejandro Garnacho almost conjured an immediate equaliser.

But Chelsea shot themselves in the foot to gift Leeds the decisive third goal in the 72nd minute.

It was a shambolic moment as Malo Gusto’s pass inside his own area put Tosin Adarabioyo under pressure.

Adarabioyo’s panicked pass towards Robert Sanchez was intercepted by Noah Okafor and when the Chelsea goalkeeper blocked the shot, Calvert-Lewin was on hand to tap into the empty net as Maresca looked on in disbelief.

Leeds are temporarily out of the relegation zone, before 18th-placed West Ham United took on Manchester United on Thursday, and their manager Daniel Farke was pleased.

“There have been many performances during the season where we deserved more points and tonight it was an excellent performance,” he said.

“We wanted to be back in the big time, to play against the best sides in the world, and to have Elland Road rocking at its best, in the unbelievable atmosphere. A great night for everyone who is involved with Leeds United.” AFP