Man Utd were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the Premier League ahead of their huge Europa League final clash.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was surprised by how well Manchester United pressed his side in their 1-0 defeat on Friday night. Marc Cucurella scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea took a massive step towards Champions League qualification with victory at Stamford Bridge.
United will hope to join Chelsea in the competition next season but can only do so if they defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final next week. Ruben Amorim made five changes to his starting line up for the Chelsea clash as he looked to manage fitness level ahead of their trip to Bilbao.
There was some encouragement from the manner of their performance on Friday night, though the quality of their play will be irrelevant if they do not get the result they need to salvage their season against Tottenham next week.
Read More
Manchester United surprised Maresca
Speaking after Chelsea defeated Manchester United in the Premier League, Enzo Maresca praised their opponents for the aggressive manner they approached the match.
Asked for his verdict on the win, he told reporters: "Very important, at this stage of the season to win games. We also paid attention in the way we won the game. I think tonight we struggled with the ball, because we didn’t expect them to be so aggressive man-to-man,” Maresca said. “I usually watch five or six games of the other team, and I’ve never seen them so aggressive man-to-man. They surprised us a little bit on that. But I think between first-half and second-half, we created enough chances to deserve to win the game."
Maresca was also delighted that his side managed to scrape out a win against a United side who actually have a good record against the top sides in the Premier League this season.
He added: "The reason I was so happy at the end is because United beat City away, drew at home. Drew with Liverpool, drew with Arsenal, so they know how to play against big teams. I expected a very tough game and the reason I was so happy because we beat a team that against Arsenal, Liverpool, City, was hard to beat them."
Continue Reading