Enzo Maresca hailed the "important statement" of Chelsea's 2-1 comeback win against West Ham United on Monday night as the Blues leapfrogged Manchester City into fourth spot.
Chelsea fell behind to Jarrod Bowen's 42rd-minute strike and struggled to find their fluency before substitute Pedro Neto levelled 12 minutes after entering the action.
The Blues struck a second goal on 74 minutes when Cole Palmer's shot was deflected into his own net by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and head coach Maresca was impressed by his side's spirited recovery.
"We are there and hopefully we can be there until the end. Playing this kind of game in February, where we are still there is an important statement," Maresca said.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
23 | +35 | 56 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
24 | +27 | 50 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
24 | +13 | 47 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
24 | +16 | 43 |
| 5 |
Man City
MCI
|
24 | +13 | 41 |
"I was very happy, especially because I consider this game the toughest game mentally.
"In this moment, when teams come here and sit back waiting for our mistake, there is no space to attack, we need to be patient.
"First half we tried but there was no space, 11 players, Bowen marking [Moises] Caicedo. They just allowed us to play with Tosin [Adarabioyo] with the ball.
"They tried to frustrate us so we needed to be mentally strong. Even with that in the first half we had four or five clear chances. Then we conceded a goal from our mistake."
It was the fifth time Chelsea had made an error leading to a goal in their last six matches, and 10th in the Premier League this season - only Southampton and Aston Villa, with 17 and 11 respectively, have made more.
But Maresca was delighted at the manner in which his team responded, winning a top-flight match at Stamford Bridge in which they’ve trailed at half time for the first time since they beat Southampton 3-1 in December 2013.
"We needed to be mentally strong," he added. "My message at half-time was don’t change anything, continue in the same way because [West Ham] cannot be so intense for 90 minutes, it’s impossible.
"We completely deserved to win the game. Teams come here and try to frustrate us, just waiting for our mistake."
Potter takes the positives
It was a night of mixed emotions for West Ham head coach Graham Potter, who was returning to former club Chelsea for the first time since leaving Stamford Bridge in April 2023 after a seven-month stint in charge.
While disappointed with the result, Potter took plenty of positives from his team's performance.
"I think you can see from the reaction of the supporters, they know their football, and I think the way they responded at the end of the game probably shows the effort the players put in," Potter said.
"The way they played, the performance level, I think was good. We feel a little bit unlucky with the first goal and I think that was a key moment of the game.
"If we'd have hung on [to our lead] a little bit more, I think the [home] crowd was getting a little bit frustrated, but it wasn't meant to be. But again, the performance of the players, there were lots of positives there."
On a day in which influential attacker Jarrod Bowen made a goalscoring return from injury, Potter's squad was further boosted by the loan signing of Brighton & Hove Albion forward Evan Ferguson and loan recall of James Ward-Prowse from Nottingham Forest.
"Evan's slightly different [to Ward-Prowse] because he's a younger player but, I think he'll fit into the group that we have," said Potter.
"He's a young player that's got an eye for goal and a centre-forward that wants to enjoy his football.
"James is very popular around the dressing room, around the club. I think that's important. He knows how to act, knows how to be. He brings his quality, brings his experience.
"So, we're hopeful that those two can help us, help the group, and we’ll also get some bodies back and then the squad is in a more healthy position and there’s more competition for places. That's good for us."
