Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea is going in the “right direction”, despite the poor performance on Sunday in a 1-0 defeat at Rivals Arsenal.
The two-game extraction run from Chelsea in the Premier League came abruptly when the first half of Mikel Merino proved the difference in the Emirates Stadium.
The inverted leaves Maresca's side in the fourth, only one point free from Manchester City in the fifth and two for both Newcastle United, who have a competition in hand, and Brighton.
Former Leicester City boss Maresca claimed that Chelsea has an upward route, despite the fact that his team only manages two shots on target-acting via Marc Cucurella against the second placed arsenal.
“We competed well, the game was there. They scored a set piece, they are masters,” Chelsea's head coach told Sky Sports.
“It's a shame, but my feeling is that we are going in the right direction.”
Chelsea was without people like Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke, with Christopher Nunku, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho who had no impact as cover for their absent teammates.
Indeed, their expected goals (XG) total at the Emirates (0.35) was their lowest in a competition in every competition under Maresca, while they only tried eight shots-a different joint layer for them in the Premier League this period.
“I think we were in the game until the end,” the Italian added. “There was no big difference in the two games between us.
“Given the injuries, we fought until the end. After the international break we can have more players back such as Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke for the last sprint.”
Loss. #CFC | #Arsche pic.twitter.com/de2wXTWVXC
– Chelsea FC (@chelseafc) March 16, 2025
Chelsea is now Winless in their last seven matches in the competition (D2 L5), which is their longest run without a victory on the road since October 2022 and February 2023 under Graham Potter (D4 L4).
Their situation was not helped by Palmer's injuries-forced absence-Chelsea has all lost the domestic matches without him since he came to the club, while he did not score any goal (eight).
On the other side of the field, Robert Sanchez drew an expert stop in the second half to refuse Merino, but again did not look convincing when offering arsenal opportunities in the opening period.
“We are quite happy with both of our keepers and today Robert was good,” said Maresca and defended his keeper.
Maresca remains cheerful around Chelsea's top-four, although accepted that the defeat of Emirates was a setback on their hope.
“It is a big one for us and for all the teams that are there. If you win, you are close to the target, but if you lose, you can see yourself so far from the target,” he concluded.
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