Chelsea were able to beat Manchester United 1-0 last Friday to keep their Champions League dreams alive.
Marc Cucurella scored the all-important goal for Chelsea, heading the ball home after Reece James’ terrific cross.
Cucurella spoke very highly of James following the full-time whistle, acknowledging his teammate’s role in a hard-fought victory.
Despite United’s dire form, it was not an easy game for the Blues, but Enzo Maresca had already warned them that it was never going to be a walk in the park.
Enzo Maresca warned Chelsea players Manchester United could raise their game
Ruben Amorim’s men went into the tie on a run of seven games without a win in the Premier League.
However, having managed to take points away from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal this season, Maresca refused to get complacent and warned his team that they were in for a tough match.
Speaking on Straight Outta Cobham, journalist Simon Johnson said: “Manchester United have this weird knack of — I hesitate to use the word raising their game — raising their standard from the very low standard that they previously set, against Chelsea.
“And Maresca also made a point of it to I think anyone he could tell it to after the game, and apparently before the game he was telling the players this about United’s record against Man City and Arsenal and Liverpool, their ability to do better against the better sides.”
While Chelsea were able to get the job done in the end, they will probably still need to beat Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season to qualify for the Champions League.
It will be another tough fixture, with Nuno Espirito Santo already warning the Blues that the City Ground is going to be “bouncing”.
When Nuno discussed the Forest versus Chelsea tie following his side’s victory over West Ham United, he said: “The City Ground is another big boost for us. It’s going to be bouncing and helping us, but we’re going to fight, we’re going to fight.”
How Manchester United’s approach to Chelsea game left Enzo Maresca surprised
Based on what he said to his players, it is unlikely that Maresca would have been shocked by how tight the United match was.
However, what did catch him by surprise was how aggressive the Red Devils were on the night.
“Tonight we struggled on the ball because we didn’t expect them to be so aggressive man-to-man,” the Chelsea boss told The Standard and others after the encounter. “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 bit on that.”
All in all, it was an important win for Chelsea. But it will mean nothing if they drop points at the City Ground on Sunday and miss out on Champions League qualification. Everything is now riding on that one match.
