Enzo Maresca says his Chelsea side deserved to beat Brentford, despite a shaky finish at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues ran out 2-1 winners but had their backs against the wall in the final 10 minutes after Bryan Mbeumo pulled a goal back and Marc Cucurella was sent off.
Chelsea went ahead through their full-back just before half-time, who flicked a header into the back of the net after a series of crosses from the hosts had put the Bees under serious pressure.
It looked like the Blues would rue their missed chances, particularly Nicolas Jackson, who missed an absolute sitter in the match.
With an open goal to aim at, his first-time shot from a cross flew over the bar and into the stands.
But the Senegal international had his goal in the 80th minute, latching on to an Enzo Fernandez through ball and drilling into the corner.
Cucurella gifted Brentford possession and Mbeumo capitalised by sliding the ball past Robert Sanchez with just a few minutes to go.
🔵📈 Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are now 2nd in the Premier League. ✅ pic.twitter.com/CDa0NV8Fwb
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 15, 2024
The Spaniard was then dismissed after the final whistle to put a slight dampener on proceedings.
Nevertheless, Maresca maintained a positive attitude in his post-match press conference.
He said: “We were in control of the game except the last 10 minutes where we concede. It’s normal.
“We created chances. We could have scored more. We deserved to win the game.”
“It’s all about the position. You have to be in the right position and if you are you’ll have a chance.
“We worked with Marc in this game to arrive and be in the right position. We are very happy. It’s not something normal because he’s not a big full-back. We worked in the week for this kind of solution and we’ve been lucky.
“I said after the Tottenham game he [Jackson] didn’t score but he did the most important thing. The rest were celebrating and he was the only one going for the ball. Off the ball he worked hard.
“Just two teams have conceded less than us. Defensively we’re not doing bad. We’d like to end with a clean sheet but there’s another team trying to score.”
He left with a departing comment on the title race, adding: “It’s not about how many games we win. It’s about being realistic. There are things we have to do better. That’s why I said for me we are not ready.”
