Maresca praises Chelsea’s defending in win over Burnley – and explains decision to take James off at half-time

Enzo Maresca hailed Chelsea’s defending in their 2-0 win over Burnley.

Goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez secured victory for the Blues at Turf Moor and Maresca praised the efforts of his side.

“It was a tough game for many reasons,” he said. “Again, after the international break, 12 o’clock, Burnley away, this type of pitch. 

“Also, we need to manage players, so it was a very tricky game, and the way the players compete, again, another clean sheet. I don’t think they had one important chance in the second half. Overall, I think we deserve to win the game and we are happy.”

Maresca opted to leave Moises Caicedo, Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho as unused substitutes for the game, while Reece James played just 45 minutes.

And Maresca says he had to manage his squad following the international break.

“We planned on 45 minutes (to take James off),” Maresca said. 

“That’s why I said we had many reasons to be happy today, because one of the reasons was also to try to manage players. 

“It’s not easy, because me personally, I would like Reece to continue, but we need to protect Reece.”