Chelsea Boss Maresca Slams ‘Careless Mistakes’ After 3-1 Defeat to Brighton

Enzo Maresca has criticised his Chelsea players for “giving away presents” after Trevoh Chalobah’s red card proved costly in a 3-1 home defeat to Brighton on Saturday.

The Blues led through Enzo Fernandez’s 24th-minute header, but the game turned when Chalobah was dismissed in the 53rd minute for a last-man foul on Diego Gomez. Brighton capitalised, scoring three late goals to stun Stamford Bridge.

Danny Welbeck equalised in the 77th minute, Maxim De Cuyper headed the visitors in front in stoppage time, and Welbeck struck again seconds before the final whistle.

The result condemned Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League defeats, following last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Manchester United when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off just four minutes into the match.

“The message (in the dressing room) was clear,” Maresca told reporters. “Against any team in the Premier League you cannot continue to give away presents. We are giving away presents. The red card is a big mistake because the game completely changed.”

Chelsea had dominated the first half, with Moises Caicedo’s pass freeing Reece James to deliver the cross that Fernandez converted. But Chalobah’s dismissal – sparked by a misplaced pass from Andrey Santos – shifted the momentum firmly to Brighton.

“It’s a tough one because we were in control of the game,” Maresca added. “We scored one, we could have scored more. We had so many shots in the first half, 70 percent possession – everything was fine.

“Then suddenly because of our mistake, with the red card the plan completely changed. We played two games – first half, then unfortunately after the red card. For sure you cannot continue to make mistakes. They are big mistakes, game-changing, red card against United and today.”

Chelsea slipped to eighth place in the league and now face leaders Liverpool on October 4.

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