Enzo Maresca Shocks Football World by Defending Chelsea's Red Card Rampage as 'A Good Thing'
Enzo Maresca adopted an unexpectedly optimistic outlook following his Chelsea team's latest red card incident during Tuesday evening's clash with Benfica, humorously suggesting it's "beneficial" that they managed to secure victory despite playing with ten men.
João Pedro received his marching orders during injury time of a hard-fought 1–0 Champions League victory against José Mourinho's squad after accumulating two yellow cards. The Brazilian forward was cautioned for a challenge just moments after entering the game in the second half, then received another booking for dangerous play with his foot raised high, despite the match being effectively decided.
This sending-off marked Chelsea's third dismissal across four fixtures, matching their total from the preceding 49 encounters.
"What's encouraging is our progress and ability to secure wins despite being down to ten men," Maresca responded when confronted with these concerning figures.
Chelsea's Disciplinary Issues
Dismissal | Opposition | Violation |
|---|---|---|
Robert Sánchez | Man Utd | Preventing clear scoring chance |
Trevoh Chalobah | Brighton | Preventing clear scoring chance |
João Pedro | Benfica | Double booking; |
Dismissals for Robert Sánchez and Trevoh Chalobah had led to losses against Manchester United and Brighton respectively. Both players were sent off for preventing clear scoring opportunities, with Sánchez colliding with Bryan Mbeumo following a simple Benjamin Šeško pass while Chalobah was attempting to compensate for Andrey Santos's heavy first touch.
Maresca insisted this pattern didn't cause him concern. "We're on a development path that began this campaign and we improve with each match," the Italian manager reflected.
"The Newcastle and Flamengo dismissals [Nicolas Jackson received last term] were for poor conduct, but Sánchez [against Man Utd] wasn't for misconduct, he was simply trying to protect our goal, same with Chalobah [versus Brighton].
"From my perspective, it's not a worry or problem, it's simply situations where perhaps a different choice should be made to avoid trouble. Sometimes it's preferable to allow the goal or opportunity because maintaining 11 versus 11 is crucial."
Maresca will undoubtedly want to maintain his full squad when Chelsea welcomes a struggling Liverpool team this Saturday evening.