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ENZO MARESCA'S MASTERCLASS: 10-MAN CHELSEA HOLDS ARSENAL, TITLE RACE ON
Enzo Maresca's tactical bravery, coupled with a dominant Reece James performance, allowed 10-man Chelsea to hold Arsenal to a 1-1 draw and keep the title race alive.
Just ten weeks ago, Wayne Rooney criticised Enzo Maresca's substitutions after Chelsea's loss to Manchester United when they were down to ten players.
Rooney felt that taking off Estevao, Pedro Neto, and Cole Palmer at Old Trafford let United control the game and weakened Chelsea's attack, even after Casemiro was sent off for the home team.
Chelsea fans might have worried about a repeat when Moises Caicedo was red-carded for a bad foul on Arsenal's Mikel Merino in their 1-1 draw.
Caicedo is the sixth Chelsea player to get a red card this season—seven if you count Maresca's for celebrating too much during their win against Liverpool at home.
While Maresca needs to sort out this lack of discipline, he didn't back down this time. Facing the league leaders with ten men for over 50 minutes, he showed bravery, and his players matched it.
Maresca didn't hesitate. Instead of playing it safe, he took a chance, bringing on Alejandro Garnacho at halftime and Liam Delap before the hour mark.
Kweku Afari says the title race is still alive after Chelsea drew with Arsenal while playing with ten men.
This bold approach paid off when Chelsea surprisingly scored first with Trevoh Chalobah's header from Reece James's corner in the 48th minute.
It was Chelsea's tenth goal from a set piece this season, second only to Arsenal.
If you can't beat them, join them!
Even though Merino equalised just 11 minutes later, keeping Garnacho and Pedro Neto on the field, with Delap as the main threat, meant Arsenal couldn't relax or commit too many players forward to find a winner. A win would have put them seven points clear at the top.
In the end, Arsenal's coach, Mikel Arteta, was happy to get a draw, just like Maresca, after a big week for Arsenal, having already beaten Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.
Chelsea wasn't going to be as easy to push around as Spurs were in the north London derby last weekend.
Joao Pedro set the tone for what Arteta called a proper London derby by fouling Cristhian Mosquera right after kickoff.
From that point on, Arsenal couldn't get into their usual flow, even with an extra player.
Everyone expected the battle between Caicedo and Declan Rice to be key, but it was captain Reece James, playing in midfield again, who led the way.
James was the best player on the field, stopping Rice from controlling the game and threatening Arsenal's defence with his great passing.
James's perfect corner led to Chalobah's goal.
It's no surprise that England's coach, Thomas Tuchel, really wants his former Chelsea player to be fit for next summer's World Cup.
If James can keep playing like this after struggling with injuries for three years, he'll be important for both his country and his club.
James's determined performance showed everything good about Maresca's confident Chelsea team, who will at least keep Arsenal under pressure in the title race.
What a difference ten weeks can make.
ENZO MARESCA EXPLAINS: WHY ESTEVAO WILLIAN STAYED ON THE BENCH DURING 2-1 UCL DEFEAT
Unused sub Estevao Willian showed his desire to win by kicking a cone in frustration after Chelsea conceded to Atalanta, a moment Maresca explained was due to an injury change.
Estevao Willian's disappointment was clear during Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Atalanta in the Champions League. The 18-year-old winger spent the whole match on the bench Tuesday night as Chelsea blew their lead.
Joao Pedro scored first for Chelsea, slipping the ball past Marco Carnesecchi. Even though they had a few more good chances, the Blues didn't score again before Atalanta tied the game.
Late in the game, Charles De Ketelaere scored, his shot deflecting past Robert Sanchez. With this loss, Chelsea has dropped out of the top eight and hasn't won in their last four games.
Estevao really wanted to play in Bergamo, but he remained a substitute. He warmed up in the second half and was near the field when Gianluca Scamacca scored the tying goal.
A fan caught Estevao's reaction to the goal and posted it on X (the social media platform previously known as Twitter). The young player was clearly upset when Atalanta scored, grabbing his shirt and saying something to himself before kicking a training cone.
He went back to warming up with Jorrel Hato, Andrey Santos, Marc Guiu, and Facundo Buonanotte. Even during this tough moment, Estevao's desire to play, his love for the game, and his will to win were obvious.
After the game, Maresca told reporters why Estevao didn't play. Tosin [Adarabioyo] had to come on because Wes [Fofana] needed to be subbed out; that was a change we had to make, the Chelsea coach said.
If we had another substitution available, Estevao or Andrey [Santos] probably would have played. But that change changed our plan for the game a bit.
Maresca talked about the difficulties of rotating the starting lineup: Tonight, our starting eleven included eight or nine players who also played against Tottenham, Barcelona, Wolves, and Arsenal.
We had eight or nine players who played in most of these matches. So, the five changes we made compared to the Bournemouth game were different.
But if you look at the team, we had eight or nine players who also played against Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves, you know, those types of games. These are the players who are playing almost every game.
About the results, Maresca commented, "After we conceded, we lost some control of the match." In the first half, we scored a goal, allowed some chances, but also created a few of our own.
In the second half, we had two good opportunities to score another goal. But after they scored to tie the game, we lost control again, and then they scored a second time.
I think we could have stopped both goals. They were easy goals to avoid.
JOE COLE DEMANDS EXPERIENCE: CHELSEA'S COLLAPSE AFTER ATALANTA LOSS IS 'DISAPPOINTING'
Following a major loss to Atalanta, former Chelsea star Joe Cole highlights the team's need for experienced leaders to navigate tough matches.
After Chelsea's loss to Atalanta in the Champions League, Joe Cole made it clear what he thinks the team needs. Their recent form has been really disappointing, he said.
Just weeks ago, after they crushed Barcelona 3-0, people thought Enzo Maresca's team could go far in both the Premier League and Champions League.
But since then, Chelsea hasn't won four straight games. They've dropped to fifth place in the Premier League, eight points behind Arsenal.
On Tuesday, Joao Pedro put Chelsea ahead against Atalanta, but the home team came back with two goals in the second half to win 2-1.
This loss puts Chelsea in 11th place in the Champions League, and they'll likely fall even further after Wednesday's games.
Cole said Chelsea's performance in Italy was really disappointing. He believes that his old club needs to add some experienced players to Maresca's squad.
Since Todd Boehly took over in 2022, Chelsea has spent a ton of money, but they've mostly signed young players with potential rather than established stars.
It’s really disappointing, Cole told TNT Sports after the 2-1 defeat. Chelsea played well in the first half and got the first goal.
But they looked shaky after that, and you could see their weaknesses. It’s frustrating.
They played great against Barcelona, but they haven't kept that up, with three poor performances since then.
I keep thinking that they need more experienced players to help them get through tough games.
The coaches probably told them what to expect tonight, but it helps to have someone who's been there before on the field.
Chelsea isn't quite there yet. They show flashes of potential and have some great games, but then they have games like tonight where they just don't play well.
This weekend is very important because they haven't won in four games. They have to win against Everton.
Steve Sidwell, another former Chelsea player, added, The first half was even, but Chelsea looked disorganised in the second half, maybe because of the changes they made.
They seemed a bit off, and if you give good players time and space, they'll make you pay.
After this disappointing result in Italy, Chelsea's chances of qualifying for the Champions League are uncertain.
Maresca's team will play Pafos at home in their next European game on January 21, followed by a game against Napoli the following week.
When asked about Chelsea's chances in their last two games, Cole said, You'd expect them to beat Pafos at home, which would set up a huge game at Antonio Conte’s Napoli.
That game will be important. You don’t have to finish in the top eight, but you want to avoid playing extra games because the Premier League is tough.
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