Enzo Maresca slammed Chelsea’s “foolish” defending after Alejandro Garnacho rescued a 2-2 draw towards Qarabag within the Champions League on Wednesday.
Maresca’s facet have been in peril of an embarrassing loss on the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku after falling behind within the first half.
Estevao Willian gave Chelsea an early lead however Leandro Andrade equalised earlier than Marko Jankovic transformed a penalty to present the Azerbaijani minnows hope of a well-known upset.
Former Manchester United winger Garnacho got here off the bench to bail out the Blues together with his composed end after the interval.
Each side have seven factors from their first 4 matches within the league section, leaving them in competition for the highest eight end that secures computerized qualification for the final 16.
Whereas two-time European champions Chelsea have spent over £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) on new signings within the final three seasons, Qarabag’s whole switch outlay since 2020 is lower than £7 million.
Regardless of that monetary disparity, Chelsea discovered it onerous to subdue their spirited hosts and so they made the five-and-half-hour journey house nonetheless with out a Champions League away win since October 2022.
“I believe the massive distinction was contained in the field. Once more we conceded foolish targets that we might keep away from and we might most likely end higher with a lot of the actions that we created,” Maresca stated.
“After we conceded the primary purpose, they have been with 10 gamers. I believe it’s fairly foolish to concede this sort of purpose. Then we conceded the penalty, so the second half is harder since you are 2-1 behind and you must rating.
“We have to defend higher contained in the field and doubtless have to assault higher within the different field.”
Mockingly nicknamed “provider bag” on their disappointing debut within the Champions League group stage eight years in the past, Qarabag have proved a shock bundle on this season’s competitors.
They staged an excellent comeback to win 3-2 at Benfica, then beat Copenhagen 2-0 at house and Chelsea have been the most recent to seek out them a troublesome nut to crack.
Chelsea did not arrive in Baku till the early hours of Wednesday morning, so Maresca made seven modifications from Saturday’s win at Tottenham in a bid to maintain his crew contemporary.
Garnacho to the rescue
Estevao gave Chelsea’s inexperienced crew a deserved lead within the sixteenth minute after a vibrant opening.
Picked out by Andrey Santos’ cross, Estevao shifted the ball onto his left foot and hit a low drive from 12 yards that beat Qarabag keeper Mateusz Kochalski at his close to publish.
Brazil ahead Estevao, 18, is the third-youngest participant in Champions League historical past to attain in every of his first two begins within the event behind Ethan Nwaneri and Kylian Mbappe.
However Chelsea did not construct on that promising begin and so they have been punished for sloppy defending within the twenty ninth minute.
Camilo Duran stole possession from Chelsea defender Jorrel Hato and reduce inside Tosin Adarabioyo for a shot that cannoned again off the publish to Leandro Andrade, who slotted a scientific end into the far nook.
Qarabag had the momentum and so they struck once more within the thirty ninth minute as Chelsea’s lack of expertise began to indicate.
The hapless Hato misplaced possession on the sting of his personal space and conceded a penalty after blocking Duran’s cross together with his outstretched arm.
Jankovic despatched Robert Sanchez the fallacious manner from the spot to depart Chelsea in disarray on the interval.
Maresca launched Garnacho, Enzo Fernandez and Liam Delap for the second half and the triple change paid prompt dividends.
Delap picked out Garnacho and the 21-year-old lashed a fierce strike previous Kochalski from the sting of the realm for his second purpose since arriving in August.
Fernandez virtually emulated Garnacho’s affect with an instinctive snap-shot that Kochalski tipped over.
Chelsea laid seige to the Qarabag purpose within the dying minutes, however Fernandez drilled narrowly over from distance earlier than Garnacho’s close-range effort was repelled by Kochalski.
