Enzo Maresca- “Chelsea are not ready to compete for the title”

Chelsea won five consecutive Premier League games after the hard-fought 2-1 victory over the solid Brentford on Sunday evening at Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, has always refused to accept the fact that his side will challenge for the title.

The Blues took the lead through Marc Cucurella’s wonderfuɔ jeader in the 43rd minute. Nicholas Jackson, in the 80th minute, scored to put them beyond the Bees. However, in-form Cameroonian forward Bryan Mbeumo, in the 90th minute, outpaced the Chelsea centre-back pairing of Adarabioyo and Colwill and calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Sanchez to make it 2-1. The additional eight minutes were nervous for Chelsea leading to Cucurella receiving his marching orders.

After the game, Enzo Maresca told the press that Chelsea cannot compete for the title with that kind of defending and finishing to games.

“No matter how many games we are going to win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title,” said Maresca.

“One of the reasons why is because the teams who know how to compete to win the title will not concede the goal that we conceded. We conceded a goal in 90 minutes from a throw-in for us.

“Then, probably at the end of the game, the game is finished and we can manage that moment differently. But it’s experience for the players to learn and to improve things.”

Chelsea on Saturday will travel to Goodison Park to face the unpredictable Everton. A win for the Blues can send them on top of the table for at least a few hours.

Enzo Maresca’s side is firing from all angles as they are probably the best team in the EPL at the moment.