Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wanted Crystal Palace player sent off and thinks Oliver Glasner’s reaction was telling
Will Hughes was lucky to stay on the pitch in Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.
That’s the view of Blues boss Enzo Maresca, who thought that moment could have altered the game.
Chelsea were 1-0 up at Stamford Bridge at the time, with Nicolas Jackson giving them the lead.
Hughes was already on a yellow card when he cynically hauled down Cole Palmer just outside the area.
Palace immediately took off the midfielder seemingly in response to him avoiding a red card.
When asked by talkSPORT about whether the Eagles should have been down to 10, Maresca said: Yeah, I think also the reaction from their bench that they immediately made the change, is quite clear.
“But the referee thought in a different way. I think at that moment we were still 1-0 up, so probably the game with the red card was almost finished.”
The Blues boss believed his side deserved all three points and he is still without a win at home in his opening two games at Stamford Bridge.
He added: We completely deserved to win the game. We controlled the game.
“Overall, we completely deserved to win the game. Unfortunately we didn’t.
“The performance was very good on and off the ball. After we conceded the goal, we lost our way.”
Malo Gusto went off injured and Maresca confirmed that the defender has a muscle injury.
Chelsea are 11th after their first three games of the season.
Next up for the Blues will be West Ham after the international break.
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Crystal Palace planning to re-open contract talks with Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace were quite busy on transfer deadline day as they completed moves for Maxence Lacoix and Eddie Nketiah.
The Eagles also brought in Trevoh Chalobah and Matt Turner to Selhurst Park on loan from Chelsea and Nottingham Forest respectively.
However, they lost Sam Johnstone to Wolverhampton Wanderers in a deal worth around £10 million.
Jean-Philippe Mateta also had interest from clubs in the Premier League and overseas but the South Londoners maintained the striker is not for sale.
Now the Sunday Mirror (September 1, Page 68) are reporting Crystal Palace are planning to re-open contract talks with the 27-year-old.
His stocks have received a massive boost following his impressive goalscoring feats last season.
In 39 appearances across all competitions, the Frenchman struck 19 goals and provided five assists to help his side finish 10th in the league.
Mateta, who is currently on £50,000-a-week wages at Selhurst Park, also caught the eye in the summer as he helped his nation win an Olympic silver medal.
He has started both Premier League matches for the Eagles this campaign but is yet to register a goal or an assist.
Manager Oliver Glasner is said to be an admirer of the 27-year-old and wants to keep him amid interest from several European clubs.
His current deal expires in 2026 but Palace are keen to offer him an extension as well as a pay rise.
