Maresca admits individual errors are costing Chelsea after back-to-back Premier League defeats

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has called on his side to eliminate individual errors after Brighton claimed a 1-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, handing City a second consecutive Premier League defeat.

Yasin Ayari’s 11th-minute winner was gifted by Matheus Nunes, who miskicked attempting to clear a cross and left the ball sitting perfectly for the Swedish midfielder. It mirrored the pattern from the previous weekend, when errors from Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marc Guehi contributed to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

“Sometimes it happens,” Maresca said. “Unfortunately it is happening for our players, but I think it is part of the game, part of football. In the last two or three games it has happened many times against us. We need to analyse and understand what we can do better and try to move on.”

The back-to-back losses have taken the edge off what had been a remarkable start to the campaign — City had won their opening seven league fixtures before this run. Maresca was measured in his response, acknowledging that a perfect season was never a realistic expectation.

“For sure we are not happy,” he said. “The players, me, the coaching staff, the club — no-one is happy when we lose games at all. But we were aware we were not going to win all the games, so these kind of moments arrive. We just need to try to improve things, move on and try to win games as soon as possible.”

For Brighton, the result carried extra satisfaction. Manager Fabian Hurzeler had publicly targeted the win as revenge for a Carabao Cup defeat to City the previous week — a tie in which Ayari had missed a penalty in the decisive shoot-out. The Swede made amends emphatically.

Despite the scoreline, City dominated large portions of the match after going behind. Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was outstanding for the visitors, making several key saves including tipping an Iliman Ndiaye effort on to the woodwork.

Midfielder Elliot Anderson reflected on the performance with frustration rather than alarm. “We had so many chances and on another day we put them away and we win the game,” he said. “It wasn’t for a lack of fight and commitment. We gave everything. We were on top for large periods of the game and it looked very promising to get a goal, but it just didn’t come.”

City now turn their attention to Europe, travelling to face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday. Anderson struck a collective tone: “We win together, we lose together. We’ve got to improve together as well and we’ll look to do that in the next few days.”