Chelsea threw away a 1-0 lead against Fulham on Boxing Day to suffer a 2-1 defeat in the west London derby.
Enzo Maresca watched his side endure a huge blow in the Premier League title race as Rodrigo Munoz netted a 95th minute winner at Stamford Bridge – after Harry Wilson had cancelled out a 16th minute opener from Cole Palmer with an equaliser in the 82nd minute.
The Italian will surely be furious with all his players for squandering a lead with less than ten minutes remaining of normal time – although he may reserve especially harsh treatment for Levi Colwill after what the England international was seen doing before Fulham snatched all three points against Chelsea.
Levi Colwill spotted showing “no desire” before Rodrigo Muniz winner
As Troy Deeney also commented on when discussing the west London derby for BBC Final Score, the Chelsea No.6 did not appear to put in as much effort as he could have done before the Cottagers secured victory.
The 36-year-old said: “It’s so poor from Chelsea defensively. Levi Colwill doesn’t even break into sprint and has no desire to get back. It is well played from Fulham. They’ve planned for this and he’s got the goal.”
Rodrigo Muniz of Fulham scores his team's second goal past Robert Sanchez of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Fulham ...
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A poor kick from Robert Sanchez gifted possession back to Marco Silva’s side with seconds to go, while Chelsea’s backline was still very high up the pitch, although Deeney is spot on.
As Sasa Lukic is played down the line by Harry Wilson, Colwill – who annoyed Virgil van Dijk last season – could be seen jogging, hardly showing much determination to get back in and block the cross.
Having said that, the blame lies just as much with Sanchez for his sloppy kick, which was truly aimless – with only seconds to go, the Spaniard should have shown better game management.
Colwill – who Liverpool admire – is far from the only reason that goal was conceded.
Enzo Maresca proven right with his reason for why Chelsea cannot win Premier League this season
Despite Chelsea sitting second in the Premier League, the 44-year-old has frequently stressed that his side are not ready to challenge for the title this season.
Chelsea's Italian head coach Enzo Maresca reacts during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge in ...
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When asked specifically why he feels that way, Maresca said earlier in December: “No matter how many games we win, I think we are not ready to compete for the title. One of the reasons why is that the team that knows how to compete to win titles, they won’t concede goals we concede. A team that knows how to win titles, that is not a goal they know how to concede.”
This comment was made after Chelsea conceded a sloppy goal to Bryan Mbeumo in the recent 2-1 win over Brentford, and the Blues again showed weakness in defence for Muniz’s winner.
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