Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said a lack of consistency is costing his team after they were stunned by a goal in the third minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 to Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.
Substitute Chemsdine Talbi scored a dramatic winner to turn the game on its head and end the Blues’ four-match winning run in all competitions.
It was a marked contrast to their last home Premier League outing when it had been their own substitute Estêvão whose goal in added time downed champions Liverpool, leaving Maresca scratching his head at the reversal in fortunes.
“We were not good enough and in the Premier League the consequences can be bad,” he said. “When you’re not able to win it’s important that you don’t lose.
“If you want to be there, you need consistency. Winning four in a row and then today’s [result], it shows that. If we can have that level and this level, probably it’s better to have something in between, to be always in the same way.”
A draw would have been a fair result but Talbi’s late winner, rolled into the bottom corner after Brian Brobbey had held the ball up all alone against two defenders, made it a remarkable one.
“That can be an easy situation,” Maresca said. “We were two vs. one, the striker is facing his own goal. It’s an easy situation to defend. In that case we have to do better.”
It had been a fierce contest and a fair fight between teams who had amassed the same number of Premier League points, but if Chelsea harbour ambitions to push on from last season’s fourth-place finish and break into the title race, these are matches that cannot continue to get away from them.
Everything had looked rosy in the fourth minute when Alejandro Garnacho received Pedro Neto’s pass out on the left and ran around Nordi Mukiele, who was beaten easily, to finish between the legs of Robin Roefs.
Mukiele made amends with a devilish long throw that caused chaos in Chelsea’s box, in the midst of which Wilson Isidor appeared to prod home his fourth of the season and Sunderland’s leveller.
Chelsea spent much of the game moving the ball from left to right and back again waiting for space that Sunderland refused to yield.
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“A lack of creativity, we didn’t create a lot,” he admitted. “We struggled. We need our players to perform 100%. Even at 1-0 we lost duals, we lost second balls. Against this team you need to win those.”
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has now led his team to the best start made by a newly promoted team for 17 years, after a fifth win in nine games continued their astonishing acclimatisation to the top flight.
“It’s important to grab this opportunity when possible because sometimes the opponent is so talented it can change the game,” he said.
“We speak often about togetherness. We need the starters and the finishers. It was the case today. It was tough to hold the ball and we know that Brian has that ability.
“Discovering a new league, a new squad. What we can control is our play. If we’re just on the edge and it’s possible to win, let’s do it.”
