Enzo Maresca criticises Chelsea after witnessing ‘worst performance’ of tenure

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca criticised the desire of his players as he reflected on the “worst performance” of his tenure following a thumping 3-0 Premier League defeat by Brighton.

Six days on from slipping to an FA Cup fourth-round exit at the Amex Stadium, the Blues suffered a crippling sense of deja vu thanks to Kaoru Mitoma’s eye-catching opener and Yankuba Minteh’s double.

Maresca’s fourth-placed side have now taken just nine points from their last nine top-flight fixtures after blowing a big opportunity to put pressure on their rivals in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Travelling fans chanted “we want our Chelsea back” during a miserable evening compounded by a hamstring injury sustained by Noni Madueke, having sung “we’ve got our Chelsea back” just under two months ago.

“The reaction is everywhere the same in terms of when you’re winning games the fans are happy and when you don’t win games the fans are upset,” said Maresca.

“In this moment, they are completely right to be upset, especially in this moment of the season with the chance to bring this club where this club has to be.

“Winning you can go one point from third, you can make the gap bigger with the rest.

“To come here and play in the way we played, not on the ball, in terms of desire, we probably need to show more.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Italian added: “I feel pressure always, not only now, but tonight the performance we can say was the worst performance since I arrived.”

Mitoma, who claimed Brighton’s winner in Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup triumph, produced a goal-of-the-season contender by sublimely plucking Bart Verbruggen’s searching pass out of the air with a deft first touch before beating Trevoh Chalobah and rifling into the bottom