Jurrien Timber
Jurrien Timber had a bizarre mid-game chat at the Emirates
Jurrien Timber told Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca to “try harder” during a bizarre mid-game chat.
Arsenal got the better of their London rivals 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday - Mikel Merino’s header enough for the three points. It sees the Gunners cut the gap to current Premier League leaders Liverpool to 12 points.
But there was an odd exchange between Arsenal defender Timber and Chelsea head coach Maresca before the game was finished. During stoppage time, the Dutchman was spotted in conversation with the Italian manager.
And he appeared to tell him to “try harder”, a statement that he repeated twice. Timber then offered a handshake to Maresca, which he took and then turned away with a smile on his face.
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Neither Timber nor Maresca spoke more about the exchange after the full-time whistle, albeit the Arsenal man did have a simple message on social media. He wrote: "Another derby win," with a red heart emoji.
Meanwhile, Maresca spoke out in his post-match press conference. Asked why his side are struggling to win games away from Stamford Bridge, he said: "First of all we are going to try and win games away.
"At the moment, we are winning games at home and we are going to try and do the same away. At the beginning of the season, we were winning games away and struggled at home. Now it's the other side. We are there, for sure, we need to improve away but overall I think we are good."
Jurrien Timber
Timber offered Maresca a handshake after his "try harder" comment
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Asked if there was a lack of belief among his players in games against the ‘bigger’ sides, Maresca added: "If the results say that. What I can say between the first game against Arsenal and today's game, to be honest, I don't see a big difference between us and them.
"This means we are, for me, since I arrived, I have the feeling we are on the right path and we are very close. We need just that step forward to compete in these kind of games. That step comes finishing in the top four, top five, Champions League spot."
Chelsea are now in a battle to finish in the Champions League places ahead of the final portion of the season. The Blues sit fourth and just one point above Manchester City with just nine games of the season left to play.
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