Chelsea’s Maresca hints Anfield crowd influenced officials | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Marseca has suggested the Anfield atmosphere influenced the decisions of the officials during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Chelsea lost in the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend, as goals from Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones sent Liverpool back to the top of the table.

The West Londoners performed admirably despite defeat, however, dominating the possession (57%) and restricting Liverpool to just eight efforts on goal – the lowest number the Reds have had in a Premier League home game since February 2021.

Nicolas Jackson equalised for Chelsea early in the second half, having also hit the woodwork, while Renato Veiga missed a good chance to level late on.

Maresca said he was pleased with the performance of his team and insisted Chelsea deserved more from the game.

“We don’t like to lose or drop points, but I really liked the performance. We deserved something more but the performance was good,” the Italian said to Sky Sports.

“We controlled most of the game. We had chances, we had possession. We don’t like to lose, but if we have to choose this is the way. The team was brave on and off the ball.

“I don’t think this game defines where we are. We prepared in the best way, it worked quite well. You have to take chances, but overall I am very happy with the players.”

Liverpool were awarded a first-half penalty when Curtis Jones was brought down inside the box by Levi Colwill, though Maresca believes the home crowd had an influence on that decision.

On the refereeing decisions, he added: “I didn’t see anything in terms of decisions from the referee. The only thing I can see is in this stadium is sometimes the noise of the crowd.

“The only thing I can say is the referee is there to make decisions. Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes it is because of the noise [of the crowd], but overall I think they did OK.”

Read – Arne Slot calls Chelsea win Liverpool’s ‘hardest’ test yet

See more – Mohamed Salah extends incredible ‘Big Six’ record

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