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REECE JAMES INJURY FEAR SQUASHED: ENZO MARESCA CALLS BURNLEY WIN 'VERY TOUGH

Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor with goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. The win moves the Blues up to 2nd in the Premier League, three points behind leaders Arsenal, ahead of a crucial week.

Reece James Injury Fear Squashed: Enzo Maresca Calls Burnley Win 'Very Tough
Maresca Happy James Is Fine After 'Tricky' Post-Break Burnley Victory.

Enzo Maresca, who coaches Chelsea, felt good that the Blues beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday, getting all three points in a "hard" away game.

After 37 minutes had passed, Pedro Neto used his head to put the ball in the goal, giving the Blues the lead. Just two minutes later, Enzo Fernandez scored their second goal, giving Enzo Maresca's team the victory.

With this victory, Chelsea has gone up to the second spot, only three points away from Arsenal, the Premier League champions, who will play Tottenham, their biggest rivals, on Sunday.

Maresca was glad that Chelsea had won three Premier League games in a row because his team played better for most of the game and didn't give Burnley many chances.

"I didn't want to win like this, since it's not easy," Maresca said in a talk with TNT Sports. It's hard to play Burnley away at 12:30 after the break for international games because it's always a tough match. But I'm pretty happy with how well we played.

It's really hard to come here and stop them from scoring goals. Normally, they can find a way to score somehow. But, overall, they really only had one very good chance. They didn't have many good chances during the game, but we had a lot.

Be ready. Andrey [Santos] is doing well. He's not playing much, and the game is hard today. It's hard when you don't get to play very often.

"We planned for Reece James to play for 45 minutes," Maresca added, talking about why Reece James was taken out of the game at halftime.

It was important to keep playing well like we did before the international break. Now we will get our energy back and get ready for Tuesday.

Ashley Williams, who used to defend for Swansea City and Everton, thinks Chelsea is still not ready to really fight for the Premier League title while Maresca is in charge.

Williams said, "I don't think Chelsea is ready yet to make it through the whole season [in the title race]," while talking on the BBC's Final Score. I could be wrong about that. I just think Arsenal is better than Chelsea when you think about what they have done recently and their current team, which has a lot of players and a coach with lots of experience.

Pedro Neto, who plays on the wing for Chelsea, was happy to beat Burnley before their next two hard games against big Spanish teams, Barcelona and Arsenal.

"It was a relief," Neto said to TNT Sports.

"Winning 1-0 on this tough field is never easy to do.

"We are very happy with the win because we had the right attitude and didn't let them score."

"It's always good to come back from the international break when we are away for a little while," he said after winning before the Barcelona and Arsenal games. But now, we will spend more time together.

We are excited for the games because these are the kinds of games we love to play, and it's really great.

This one has some fighting in it, which makes it unique. It was hard to come and perform on this kind of surface. But we feel good about the game that is about to happen.

WHY WAS COLE PALMER SUBBED? THE REAL REASON BEHIND THE STAMFORD BRIDGE BOOS

Fans booed as Cole Palmer was subbed in Chelsea's draw with Bournemouth. Learn why Maresca was absent and what’s next for the Blues.

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Managing Cole Palmer’s return

After Chelsea's 2-2 tie with Bournemouth, assistant coach Willy Caballero defended the choice to sub off Cole Palmer, even though fans at Stamford Bridge were angry about Enzo Maresca's move.

Fans booed, yelling, You don't know what you're doing! when Palmer—who'd been one of the team's better players—was taken out in the 63rd minute. The home team was trying to score and break their bad Premier League streak at the time.

Chelsea has only won one of their last seven league games. Caballero said afterward that head coach Enzo Maresca, who wasn't there for the post-game interviews due to illness, is still a role model for everyone at the club.

Still, the pressure is on the coach after yet another result slipped away. Chelsea has now lost 13 points at home from winning positions.

The mood got especially sour when Palmer, who just came back from an injury, was taken off in the second half.

Every fan wants the best players on the field, Caballero said. We do, too. But Cole is coming back from a long injury. So we have to figure out the best substitutions to win the game while also keeping our players healthy. We need them for the entire season.

Caballero said about Maresca's absence, "He hasn't been feeling well for the past two days." He had a fever two days ago. He did the last two practices because he wanted to get the team ready. But after the game, he went to the locker room and asked me to fill in because he wasn't feeling well.

He's handling it well and is very professional. He puts in a lot of hours every day, even when he wasn't feeling well the last two days. He loves to train and coach. He's a role model for me and the rest of the staff.

Bournemouth took the lead after six minutes when David Brooks scored on his second try after Robert Sanchez made a save. Then, Palmer scored a penalty to tie the game for Chelsea.

Next, Enzo Fernandez put the home team ahead, but the Blues couldn't hold on to their lead again. Justin Kluivert tied the score before halftime after Chelsea failed to handle a long throw-in from Antoine Semenyo.

There's been a lot of talk that this would be Semenyo's last game for Bournemouth before he moves to Manchester City soon. Before leaving the field, he seemed to say goodbye to the fans who had traveled to see the game.

Still, head coach Andoni Iraola was sure he'd play against Arsenal on Saturday.

It's not his last game here with us, he said. I can't say for sure, but I think he'll play.

He needs to rest. We've played two tough games in three days. We have Arsenal at home, so we're getting ready for another one, a tough game against the leaders. He's going to be important for us.

BREAKING: ENZO MARESCA SKIPS MEDIA AS CHELSEA CRISIS DEEPENS! GET THE HEALTH UPDATE

Enzo Maresca missed the post-match media due to a fever after Chelsea's 2-2 draw. Willy Caballero provides an urgent update on his health.

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Chelsea's winless run continues as Maresca falls ill

Enzo Maresca skipped media interviews after Chelsea's 2-2 tie with Bournemouth because he was sick.

The Blues coach was supposed to chat after his team snagged a point against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

But right before he was about to talk about the game, news dropped that Maresca wasn't feeling good.

So, his assistant, Willy Caballero, stepped in to handle things in west London.

Caballero shared an update on Maresca: He's been under the weather for a couple of days, Caballero said. He had a fever two days ago.

After the game, he went to the locker room and asked me to fill in for him since he wasn't feeling well.

Caballero was asked if he'd be in charge against Manchester City on Sunday, like he was against Villa during Maresca's suspension.

"I'm not sure," he said. I just want Enzo to get better. I think he'll be fine in a day or two.

The draw with Bournemouth means Chelsea has only won one of their last seven Premier League games.

Fans were clearly annoyed during the second half when Cole Palmer was subbed out for Joao Pedro.

Palmer just got back to playing regularly after a groin injury, but some Chelsea fans wondered why he was taken out.

About the boos, Caballero said, "Of course, every fan wants their best players on the field, and so do we."

But Cole is coming off a long injury, so we have to figure out the right subs for the game and also look out for our players since we didn't have him for a while.

Chelsea and Bournemouth had a boring 0-0 draw in their previous match earlier in the month.

But the game at Stamford Bridge was totally different, with Bournemouth taking the lead early on through David Brooks.

Palmer leveled the score with a penalty, and then Enzo Fernandez blasted a shot into the top corner to put Chelsea ahead.

But Chelsea failed to defend a long throw for the second time, allowing Justin Kluivert to score for Bournemouth.

After playing City, Chelsea will face their west London rivals Fulham before an FA Cup game away against Charlton Athletic.

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