Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace in their latest Premier League outing after Enzo Maresca’s side failed to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal
Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace in their latest Premier League outing after Enzo Maresca’s side failed to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace in their latest Premier League outing after Enzo Maresca’s side failed to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal
Enzo Maresca has warned his Chelsea team that they must start killing games off after letting Crystal Palace off the hook, says Jadon Sancho.
Sancho was the architect of the goal that looked to have given the Blues all three points at Selhurst Park after expertly teeing up Cole Palmer. But Jean Philippe Mateta struck at the death to snatch a share of the spoils for Palace.
Chelsea have now gone four games without a win following Saturday’s 1-1 draw. And Sancho echoed his manager’s frustration post-match while reflecting on the result.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I thought we played quite well and controlled a lot of the game so it was was very frustrating to concede late on. As the manager just said in the dressing room we just have to kill off the game in the second half.
“I think if we got the second goal we would have been more relaxed and they would have come out more and that would have created more space in behind for us. That didn’t happen unfortunately so we just have to learn from it and move on.
“We just have to finish our chances. We still created so many chances in front of goal but it is about getting the end product of it. We are still playing the same football [as in recent weeks], we are still giving 100 per cent. This is what happens in football.”
Despite surpassing all of their pre-season expectations under Maresca, Chelsea ended 2024 with a whimper after falling to successive defeats against Fulham and Ipswich Town.
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Image:
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And the Italian also spoke about his team’s inability to take their chances publicly in his own post-match press conference.
“Between the first-half and second-half, we created enough chances to win the game but in football you need to be clinical otherwise the game is always open,” he said.
“Especially in this stadium – any transition, any corner boosts the energy for them. Unfortunately at the end we conceded but I think overall we did enough to win the game.
“Today, if I had to decide the reason we didn’t win the game, it’s to try to be clinical when you have the chance to kill the game because at 2-0 it’s probably finished.”
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