Enzo Maresca continued to burnish his Manager of the Year credentials as Chelsea came back to humble Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 in North London on Sunday.
Tottenham led 2-0 through 13 minutes but Chelsea responded with a vicious second half. Cole Palmer scored twice while Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandez joined him in a four-goal second half.
[ MORE: Spurs 3-4 Chelsea recap, video highlights ]
Chelsea are alone in second place and looking like genuine contenders for the Premier League trophy.
What did Maresca say? We have the Italian’s thoughts below.
Enzo Maresca reaction — How did Chelsea manager respond to comeback at Tottenham?
How much does it mean for the fans? “For the fans, for us. I said it during the week that we work every day to make our fans happy. Today, they can be happy.”
“To come into this stadium vs this team, 2-0 down, and to continue with the same plan on and off the ball. Overall, we deserve the win.”
Was it frustrating thar Cucurella slipped for the first Spurs goal, needed to change boots? “It’s more a question for Marc. They are mature enough to decide the boots they need for the game. It can happen. The most important thing is we were two goals down, we gave away two goals, and we continued and created many, many changes.”
Why the halftime subs? “We had a problem with Romeo Lavia, so Malo Gusto was inside. We moved Moises to center midfield. The change was good.”
Romeo Lavia injury update: “[Lavia] had hamstring problem, but now he’s okay. We don’t want to take chances in December, especially with so many games. Sometimes it’s better to lose 45 minutes than 5, 6 games.”
On his confidence with Cole Palmer at the penalty spot: “I know from Cole from a long time ago. I trust him in every aspect. Fantastic boy, fantastic guy. He needs to learn when he’s man marked the whole game. Yves Bissouma today.”
On title chances: “No, the plan or the idea is don’t allow them to slow down. Day by day in every session they cannot slow down because if one drops, there’s someone waiting to take their place.”
“Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, they don’t slide like Cucurella did. But on all serious note, we are far from ready, far from this team, we are focused on the day by day to improve the team and play the game.”
Enzo Maresca post-game interview, reaction video
Maresca discusses Chelsea’s title chances
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca discusses his team’s impressive 4-3 comeback win over Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Matchweek 15.
