Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca believes his side were unfortunate not to claim all three points after a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge, Soccernet.football reports.
Despite Chelsea’s dominance, they were denied by a resilient Forest defence and a standout performance from goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest took the lead early in the second half when Chris Wood finished a well-worked set-piece routine, involving James Ward-Prowse and Nikola Milenkovic, past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez in the 49th minute.
However, Chelsea responded quickly, with Noni Madueke curling a left-footed shot into the net just eight minutes later.
The match was fiercely contested, with tempers flaring when Forest midfielder Ward-Prowse was shown a second yellow card for handling the ball deliberately to stop a Chelsea counter-attack.
Maresca’s men pushed for a winner after gaining the man advantage, but Sels produced two brilliant saves — first denying Cole Palmer and then stopping Christopher Nkunku’s diving header in the closing minutes.
Reflecting on the match, Maresca told BBC MOTD2: “I think we deserved to win.
“They are a very good team and we knew they would defend well. It was a tough and tricky game, very different to Brighton. We were patient on the ball and created chances.
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“Overall the performance was good and I think we deserved to win.
“Their keeper was the best of the game. We created chances and arrived at goal in the way we want to.”
On whether he has concerns about home form not matching results on the road, Maresca noted: “I don’t think so. If you analyse the games, I think Crystal Palace was like today – we created and deserved to win. I don’t think there is any reason.”
Chelsea’s five-game winning streak may have ended, but they remain unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season, while Forest extended their unbeaten away run to six matches, their best since 1995.
