Enzo Maresca revealed why he is "not worried" about Chelsea's disciplinary record after Malo Gusto became the latest player to be sent off towards the end of their Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Blues have now had to cope with sending off in four out of their last six matches across all competitions. Despite being a man down, Maresca's side comfortably clinched a 3-0 win over Forest.

Gusto sent off in Chelsea's win over Forest

Gusto became the fourth Chelsea player, after Robert Sanchez, Trevoh Chalobah and Joao Pedro, to be sent off in Chelsea's last six matches across all competitions. Gusto was given his marching orders in the 87th minute after he pulled off a mindless challenge on Neco Williams, who was attempting to make a quick counter-attack down the left side after receiving the pass from his goalkeeper. Gusto was immediately booked for the second time in the match and was then shown the red card.

The sending off, however, did not affect the Blues as they were already leading 3-0 courtesy of goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James. The win helped Chelsea to move up to the eighth position as they now have 14 points from their first eight matches. 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportMaresca 'not worried' about Chelsea red cards

Blues boss Maresca, however, is not too bothered with yet another Chelsea sending off, as he claimed that he is "not worried" about Gusto being shown a red card.

Speaking to reporters after the match, the Italian coach said: "Again, it's something that we can do better, but I'm not concerned. I know that there are some of you that say, why is he not concerned? I'm not concerned, because I like to analyse. It's a moment that we consider a red card, yes. We can avoid that, yes, for sure we can avoid that. But also for me, the desire of the players is important. Today, with 3-0, 90 minutes the game is finished. Malo [Gusto] can avoid that, because it's useless to make a second foul on a yellow card, for sure. But also the good part is, Malo is showing that he doesn't want to concede nothing. They don't want to concede a goal, they are playing for a clean sheet. It's the balance, we can avoid that for sure."

Chelsea's first-half performance raised concern

Despite the thumping win at the City Ground, the Blues' performance was far from convincing, especially in the first half, as they posted an unwanted stat. Forest dominated proceedings from the start and had 66.4% possession for the final 15 minutes in the first half. Chelsea were certainly caught off guard as they kept chasing shadows for the entire first 45 minutes. According to Opta, Chelsea had more errors (3) leading to shots in their box than any other Premier League match played this season. Maresca's side were evidently missing their Ecuadorian talisman, Moises Caicedo, in midfield as Forest had little trouble finding spaces at the back. It was the first time that Caicedo has started on the bench since Christmas Eve 2023, a game against Wolves, which ended a stretch of 65 consecutive starts.

Maresca revealed how he tried to motivate his team at the break: "My message was 'guys, off the ball, we are good off the ball and on the ball, we are not good enough'. We gave the ball away too much. It was a bit lazy. A lazy mistake that we can avoid that. In the second-half, we adjusted something tactical. Sloppy, not lazy. We looked sloppy in the build-up."

Getty Images SportEnd of the road for Postecoglou

Minutes after the full-time whistle at the City Ground, Forest announced that head coach Ange Postecoglou was relieved of his duties, only a month after appointing him as the new manager. Postecoglou returned to the Premier League in September after Forest sacked Nuno Espirito Santo but the Australian's stay was short-lived as owner Evangelos Marinakis is now looking for his third head coach in a season which promised so much following the club’s return to European football.

On the manager's sacking, the official statement from the club read: "Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect. The Club will make no further comment at this time."

Forest will next host Portuguese giants FC Porto in the Europa League league stage clash at the City Ground on October 23.