Enzo Maresca dreams of 1-0 victories after Chelsea bow out of FA Cup at Brighton
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said “big clubs” are able to win games 1-0 as he branded his side’s FA Cup exit at Brighton a “big shame”.
The Blues were gifted a fifth-minute advantage in the fourth-round tie at the Amex Stadium by a calamitous own goal from Seagulls goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
But Maresca’s men were unable to capitalise on the fortunate early breakthrough as finishes from Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma earned Albion a 2-1 comeback victory.
Chelsea’s only 1-0 success since the appointment of their Italian coach last summer came at Bournemouth in September.
“I said to the players already weeks ago and I said it again tonight, we need to learn how to win sometimes a game 1-0,” said Maresca. “Big clubs, they do that.”
Speaking about elimination from the competition, Maresca continued: “For sure, it’s a big shame for us.
“But if there is something positive it’s that now we can be focused on the Premier League and the (Europa) Conference League.
“Especially in the Premier League, hopefully we can continue our journey there; that has been very, very good until now and hopefully we can finish well.”
Verbruggen inexplicably spilled Cole Palmer’s tame effort into his own net before Rutter quickly headed Albion level, prior to Mitoma’s fine, 57th-minute finish settling the all Premier League tie.
Without injured strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, eight-time cup winners Chelsea rarely threatened to force extra-time.
Asked about the absence of nine-goal forward Jackson, who, like Guiu, was injured in Monday’s 2-1 top-flight win over West Ham, Maresca said: “Sometimes you need to play games without players to realise how important they are.
“We said many times about Nico, (he’s) important on the ball and off the ball.
“But overall, even without Nico, the game was a little bit…for both (teams).
“We started very good. First half, probably the only shot on goal they have has been the goal.
“We controlled, we create some chances, and the second half more or less happened the same.
“After the second goal, we had a few chances to draw and we missed.”
Brighton bounced back from last weekend’s 7-0 Premier League drubbing at Nottingham Forest with a deserved victory.
Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler said: “I learnt a sentence: just what the doctor ordered.
“In general, it was a great reaction. We bounced back after a tough week.
“The guys showed a lot of character, especially also after the tough start today. It’s not easy to come back like this and to play with this intensity, to play in possession with that courage, and I think it was well deserved.”
