Marc Cucurella set Chelsea on their way in 2-1 win over Brentford only to be shown a red card after the final whistle was blown after appearing to push Kevin Schade
Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea are “not ready” to challenge for the title despite cutting Liverpool’s lead at the top to two points.
And the Blues head coach has warned his young team, who have now won seven on the trot in all competitions, there remains much room for improvement.
Maresca was particularly unhappy that Chelsea waved goodbye to a clean sheet in the 90th minute, while opening goalscorer Marc Cucurella got himself sent off after the match for an altercation with Brentford’s Kevin Schade.
“No matter how many games we win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title,” Maresca said. “One of the reasons why is that the team that knows how to compete to win titles, they won’t concede goals we concede. A team that knows how to win titles, that is not a goal they know how to concede.”
“Just two teams have conceded less than us. Defensively we’re not doing bad. We’d like to end with a clean sheet but there’s another team trying to score.”
Maresca claimed he did not see the incident leading to Cucurella being dismissed, having been booked in added time for a bad foul on Fabio Carvalho.
“The referee said the second yellow card was for bad attitude,” he added. “There are things we can do better. We created chances. We could have scored more. But we deserved to win the game.”
Last night’s win means that since the start of May, Chelsea have scored more goals (51), won more games (15) and earned more points (49) in the league than any other side.
They are also 15 points better off than they were at this stage last season.
But striker Nicolas Jackson, who scored Chelsea’s second, insisted that they will continue to avoid looking at the table.
“We’re just trying to win every game and focus on the next one. I don’t look at the table.”
“We’re getting to know each other better. It’s all about getting more experience. I’m getting more confident.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank felt his team deserved a point, saying: “We played a very good game. We were unlucky not to get something out of it. Our second half was fantastic. We went toe to toe with one of the favourites for the title, especially in the second half. A draw would have been fair.
“Chelsea are a very good team, well coached, very good players. They are right up there in the title race. They’re very good.”
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