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Enzo Maresca He declared himself “delighted” after being applauded by Chelsea fans following their Carabao Cup quarter-final victory. cardiff,
The Chelsea boss hit the headlines after Saturday’s win over Everton by saying the last 48 hours at Stamford Bridge were his worst.
Maresca shrugged off several questions in his pre-match press conference on Monday about who he was targeting, and said after Chelsea’s 3-1 win that he had not spoken to the club’s hierarchy following his weekend comments.
“I’m just happy, we’re going to play another semi-final and I think the fans deserve it,” Maresca said after celebrating with Chelsea fans and singing his name at the final whistle.
“It was a great moment, I appreciate, always grateful. In some moments when you don’t win the game, they are not happy, but that’s normal. But overall, the fans have always been there.
“These are the games that make me love the players even more because you can’t imagine how easy it is to slip, to slip, because these are tricky games.
“Every season there are teams that they lose to, you know, League Two or League One. You need to focus, you need to do the right things.”
Alejandro Garnacho hit twice and substitute partner pedro neto He was also on target as Chelsea’s substitutes proved the difference in the second half.
Asked if he had spoken to his bosses since the weekend, Maresca said: “No, as I said yesterday (Monday), the day after Everton, I started preparing for Cardiff. Focus on Cardiff.
“I just said on the bus that I would watch (Saturday’s opponents) newcastle And I didn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t say anything, no it’s fine.
“I always said I’ve been happy since day one. So it’s not that I’m not happy tonight. I’m happy.”
“Now we have three hours to get to Cobham (Chelsea’s training ground) and I’ll watch two Newcastle games.
“There is no time. The time is for the players. For us as a staff, we are going to focus on the next one, that is Newcastle, so we are going to prepare.”
Maresca said Brazilian winger Estevao will miss the Newcastle match with a “minor muscular problem” which has seen him miss the Cardiff clash.
David Turnbull had given hope of shocking the League One leaders 15 minutes from time by equalizing with a superb diving header.
Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy said: “It’s probably the hope that kills you when you score a goal.
“I thought we were in the lead and probably had a great chance to get the winner, but it wasn’t to be.
“The support was behind us even at 3-1 until the last minute.”