Maresca’s men turn it around: from 0-2 to 4-2 to break away from the Gunners, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham. It ends 2-2 Leicester-Brighton
Who knows if now Enzo Maresca will start to believe that his Chelsea can fight for the title. The Blues are alone in second place in the standings, 4 points behind Liverpool (who have a game in hand) after the spectacular 4-3 comeback in the derby with Tottenham, which confirmed how much the team of the only Italian coach in the Premier 2024-25 has forged ahead and how much character its coach has given it. It wasn’t easy to climb back from the hole of two goals in 11 minutes (courtesy of Marc Cucurella’s wrong boots, guilty on both occasions) at the home of a rival, yet Chelsea managed it by remaining faithful to the dictates passed down to them by Maresca . The Blues have absorbed those dictates so well that they are now the only team together with Liverpool above 30 points in the standings.
the keys
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There is a lot of Maresca in this team and in this victory. There are the moves that led to the turnaround in the second half after closing the first half 2-1 down: Enzo had understood that Jadon Sancho, the scorer of the first Blues goal in the 17th minute, was the man to exploit on the left to send Tottenham was in a tailspin and in the second half Cucurella advanced his range of action and by changing his boots contributed to the rebirth. From that side (wonderful ball from Sancho for Caicedo) was the penalty that Palmer converted in the 61st minute to make it 2-2. And at that point Cole lit up, encouraging Fernandez’s overtaking (the Argentine was reborn after a complicated start to the season) and scoring his personal double from the spot with a penalty that this time he had procured himself. After the opening quarter of an hour, with Tottenham taking a 2-0 lead (from Solanke in the 4th minute and Kulusevski in the 11th minute, Son’s 4-3 in the 96th minute came too late), Chelsea dominated the match, showing that game that brought them to second place in the standings, to put together 4 victories in a row in a season that is becoming extraordinary in which the Blues have so far only fallen to Manchester City (on the first day) and Liverpool without however ever coming outclassed, and drew with Arsenal who are now two points behind.
injuries
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It is a team that, apart from some defensive problems that Maresca will have to solve, has game, identity, young talents who under Maresca’s wise guidance are exploding, turning into certainties. Those that are now missing for Tottenham, who in the first quarter of an hour had shown that they were capable of anything but ended up being knocked out for the third time in the last 5 Premier League games, with the 4-0 against City the only joy of the period. In addition to the damage of the defeat, the insult of the new injuries to Romero and Van de Ven, central defenders recovered at the last minute: for Postecoglou the problems seem to never end.
arsenal stop
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Dominating isn’t enough for Arsenal to emerge with three points from Craven Cottage. The 1-1 draw at Fulham is the first stop after three victories in a row and brings the Gunners to 29th in the table, 6 points behind leaders Liverpool who however did not play in this 15th round. Arsenal (sixth game in a row in the Premier League conceding goals, the longest streak under Arteta) did everything to win, including recovering at the start of the second half with yet another goal from a corner (by Saliba in the 52nd minute, making it 23 since the start of last season for Europe’s corner kings) Fulham’s early lead through Jimenez, the Cottagers’ only shot on target in the first half and one of two in the match. Silva’s team rises to 23 points, confirming itself as one of the emerging realities of this season: with Arsenal it defended for a long time, making the Gunners’ attempts futile: Saka’s 2-1 in the 88th minute was canceled by VAR for offside by Martinelli providing the assist.
the others
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Leicester found a sensational way to achieve the second useful result of the Van Nistelrooy era: trailing 2-0 in the 85th minute at home to Brighton, they snatched the 2-2 with two goals in five minutes inspired by Jamie Vardy, who became the second oldest in Premier League history (37 years, 322 days) with a goal and an assist in the same match. Shock comeback also for Bournemouth, down 1-0 until the 86th minute at Ipswich and winning 2-1, with Ouattara’s decisive goal in the 95th minute: the Cherries now have 24 points in the table, the Tractor Boys are still at 9 and in trouble.
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