Enzo Maresca blasts ‘worst’ Chelsea performance after 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion

LONDON – Enzo Maresca admitted Chelsea’s dismal 3-0 defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion on Feb 14 was the “worst performance” of his reign, as Kaoru Mitoma produced a contender for the English Premier League goal of the season.

Maresca’s hapless side failed to muster a shot on target in their second defeat at the Amex Stadium in seven days.

Mitoma scored the winner when Brighton knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-1 victory on Feb 8.

He tormented the Blues again with a breathtaking piece of skill in the first half, before Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh netted either side of the interval.

Maresca, in his first season in charge after arriving from Leicester City, said this week that Chelsea “belong” in the Champions League, with the club setting him the target of qualifying within two years. However, a run of two wins in nine league games has diminished their hopes of finishing in the top four.

“I feel pressure always, not only now. But tonight, the performance we can say was the worst performance since I arrived. With this result, the frustration is with everything. We feel really sorry for the fans who came here,” the Italian said.

Maresca will have to find a solution to Chelsea’s chronically error-prone defence if he is to achieve his target this term.

“When you play this kind of game, the situation we are in, and you perform in the way we did tonight there are many things you can do better,” he added.

“It is not only mentally. When you play these games in the moment we are, where you can make the gap bigger to the ones behind us and you perform like we did tonight, there are many things that we need to do better.”

Thrashed 7-0 at Nottingham Forest in their previous league game, Brighton had won only two of their previous 12 top-flight matches. But the Seagulls have got back on track at Chelsea’s expense with a pair of impressive wins, and also because Blues’ hotshot forward Cole Palmer is not performing well.

After beginning the season with six goals in his first six league games, the England international had netted just eight times, two from the penalty spot, in the following 19 matches in the competition.

Brighton took the lead in eye-catching fashion in the 27th minute. Bart Verbruggen’s long goal kick was superbly controlled by Japanese forward Mitoma with a remarkably deft touch as it dropped over his shoulder.

That was just the start of his magical moment as he adroitly rolled the ball away from Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah and planted a low finish into the far corner from the edge of the area.

Brighton struck again in the 38th minute as Minteh evaded Marc Cucurella before drilling home from close range.

Maresca’s men were in disarray at the back and the home side made it three in the 63rd minute, when Minteh again danced past Cucurella to score with a fierce strike from eight metres.

“We defended quite well and that was the key today. Compactness, intensity and always doing it together,” said Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler.

“The players are the most important. They need to show togetherness and I am happy for them.” AFP, REUTERS