Maresca urges realism amid Chelsea excitement

Enzo Maresca continued to pour cold water on his side's Premier League title aspirations, despite Chelsea moving to within two points of Liverpool.

A 2-1 win over Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Sunday saw the Blues cut the gap at the top, after Liverpool could only draw with Fulham on Saturday.

Goals from Marc Cucurella, who was sent off after full-time, and Nicolas Jackson got the job done, but they were made to hold on as Bryan Mbeumo grabbed one back for Brentford near the end.

Maresca has been adamant that his side are not yet ready for a title battle, and despite a fifth straight league win, he still believes there are issues for his players to iron out before they can call themselves challengers, with Brentford’s late goal being a prime example.

"It's not about how many games we win, it's about being realistic," Maresca told BBC Sport.

"There are things we have to do better. If you see the goal we conceded it was a throw-in to us, 90 minutes.

"The team that are ready to compete for [the title] use the ball in the right way."

Excellent form in the #PL. #CFC | #CHEBRE pic.twitter.com/cV80vwxCUA

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 15, 2024

Chelsea had 26 shots, getting eight on target, and Maresca feels they should have put the result to bed long before Mbeumo teed up a grandstand finish.

He added: "In the first half, we were in control of the game. We could have scored more goals.

"The second half except the last 10 minutes where we struggled, which is normal, we deserved to win the game.”

Cucurella was given a second yellow card after the final whistle for dissent and Maresca wants to see more maturity from his side going forward.

"I didn't see the second yellow card. The referee said the second yellow card was for bad attitude. There are things we can do better," he said.

"I said we have many things we can do better and this [Cucurella's red card] is one of them."

Brentford boss Thomas Frank, meanwhile, was happy with what he saw from his team, who have picked up just one point on the road all season.

The Dane told BBC Sport: "We played a very good game here. We were unlucky not to get a draw. Some big chances we missed in the end.

"We managed for the 90 minutes to go toe to toe with Chelsea, especially in the second half. A draw would have been fair.

"Chelsea are a very good team, well coached, very good players.

"They're playing with confidence and credit to them for pushing us back in the first half. They are right up there in the title race. They're very good.

"If you look at the performance today against a top team who will go right to the end of the season and try to win the title, the way they celebrated it was clear they respected us and we could easily have got something."