Jadon Sancho has revealed what Enzo Maresca said at half-time to inspire Chelsea to victory against Tottenham Hotspur. The 24-year-old winger played a crucial role for the Blues on Sunday afternoon as they demolished the Lilywhites 4-3.
After early goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski, Sancho pulled one back for Chelsea with an excellent strike from outside the box. Cole Palmer netted an equaliser from 12-yards in the second-half after Yves Bissouma was penalised for fouling Moises Caicedo inside the box.
Enzo Fernandez put the west Londoners ahead with a quarter of an hour still to play before the Blues' talisman scored a second penalty to double his side's lead. Son Heung-min narrowed the deficit in the dying embers of stoppage time, but his strike proved to be nothing more than a consolation.
While Palmer was crowned man-of-the-match, Sancho did brilliantly to keep Chelsea in the tie in the first-half. In an interview with the BBC after the game, the Manchester United loanee claimed that Maresca's half-time team talk spurred the west Londoners on to victory.
"Going in at half-time, the gaffer was telling us we were in the game," said Sancho. "I have so much belief in the players so I knew we’d come out firing. They’re very aggressive and we knew we’d catch them if we broke the lines and beat the press. The gaffer told us to stay wide and create the one-on-ones."
Speaking to reporters in his post-match press conference, Maresca was quizzed on the tweaks he made at the break. The Chelsea boss said: "There was no problem, to be honest. I think the plan first-half was working well. We were attacking, in control of the game but conceded two goals. I was very happy.
"In the first-half, we had Cole Palmer on one side and Enzo Fernandez on the other side. In the second-half, we had Cole Palmer on one side and Cucurella on the other side. We changed something in behind. It was just for this reason. I think it worked well in the end and we won the game."
And, on Sancho's performance, Maresca said: "Since we started, the reason why Jadon came here is because we think Jadon is going to help us. Unfortunately he had small problems so he was out for a while. Now he is back and the only thing he has to do is continue in the same way.
"He cannot drop, otherwise he is not going to play. His performance and Pedro Neto, on and off the ball was very good. Off the ball, they were running, following Udogie and defensively they were very good. This is what we need."
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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