Maresca: ´Brave´ Chelsea had to send a message against Arsenal

Chelsea did not get the result they wanted but Enzo Maresca believed his team made a statement by fighting back to draw with Arsenal.

Pedro Neto’s first Premier League goal for the Blues saw Chelsea restore parity in the 70th minute of Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge.

Gabriel Martinelli had put the Gunners ahead 10 minutes earlier, and Leandro Trossard squandered a great chance for Arsenal with the final kick of the game.

Chelsea finished with more shots (17 to 13) and a higher expected goals (1.28 to 0.99), and Maresca was satisfied with their performance.

“I enjoyed it, absolutely. The performance was good,” he told BBC Sport.

“We know them quite well and we competed pretty well. The performance is very important for us in this moment and it was good. We can rest now and go again.

“The performance from Pedro [Neto] was very good. We played in the way we wanted to, brave, and try and play from the back always.

“It is the way we want to do things. We try and play face-to-face against every team. We are Chelsea, so it is important to send this message.”

Neto has now either scored (two) or assisted (one) in each of his last three Premier League starts against Arsenal, with Sunday’s goal ending a run of 17 league appearances in a row without him finding the net.

2020 – Pedro Neto, who has scored his first Premier League goal for Chelsea, has scored from outside the box in the competition for the first time since his very first such goal on New Year’s Day 2020 for Wolves v Watford. Bullet. pic.twitter.com/HazgP5mgM6

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 10, 2024

His goal was his first from outside the box in the Premier League since January 1, 2020.

“We wanted to win, but we knew we had hard work in front of us because they are a good team,” he told Sky Sports.

“We came to win, so we’re not as happy as we wanted to be, but we didn’t want to lose and it’s a good point against a good team.

“We read the game well. We had moments we could have been better but we’ve done a good job and we want to keep improving at this level.”

The draw ensured Chelsea will end a day in the top three places of the Premier League table for the first time since the final day of the 2021-22 season, when they finished in third.

They face Maresca’s former club, Leicester City, after the international break.