Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca hit out at his players’ poor discipline and costly errors after their 3-1 defeat against Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Blues looked in control when Enzo Fernández headed them in front in the 24th minute, but the game turned after Trevoh Chalobah was sent off for a reckless challenge on Diego Gomez early in the second half.
Read Also: Man United edge Chelsea 2-1 to ease pressure on Amorim
Brighton took full advantage, with Danny Welbeck levelling in the 77th minute before Maxim De Cuyper and Welbeck struck in stoppage time to seal a shock victory.
It was Chelsea’s second successive defeat following last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Manchester United, where goalkeeper Robert Sánchez was dismissed inside four minutes.
A frustrated Maresca warned his players to stop “giving away presents” to opponents.
“The message in the dressing room was clear,” Maresca said. “Against any team in the Premier League, you cannot continue to give away presents. The red card is a big mistake because the game completely changed. We were in control, we scored, we could have scored more. But again, because of our mistakes, everything collapsed.”
Chelsea slipped to eighth place in the table and were booed off at full-time. With leaders Liverpool up next on October 4, Maresca admitted his team must cut out the errors quickly.
“For sure, you cannot continue to make mistakes,” he added. “They are big mistakes, game-changing. A red card against United and now today again. It’s not acceptable.”
