Akin Ayomide
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, labelled Liam Delap’s red card as “very stupid” after the striker’s late dismissal overshadowed the Blues’ dramatic 4–3 Carabao Cup victory over Wolves.
Delap, making his return from a 10-week hamstring lay-off, was sent off just 26 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute.
According to BBC Sports on Thursday, the 22-year-old picked up two yellow cards in quick succession, first for pushing Yerson Mosquera, then for barging into Emmanuel Agbadou, and will now miss Saturday’s London derby against Tottenham, with João Pedro already a fitness doubt.
When asked whether Delap deserved to be sent off, Maresca said, “Absolutely, yes. Stupid foul. We can avoid that.”
The dismissal came as part of a wider Chelsea collapse.
They built a 3-0 lead at the interval, but after the break Wolves scored three times, with Jamie Gittens’ sensational late strike enough to scrape the Blues into the quarter-finals to face Cardiff City. Maresca added, “The three goals we conceded, I think all of them we can avoid. Certainly, we also received a very unnecessary red card today.
“After the first yellow card, I told him [Delap] four or five times to keep calm. But Liam is a player who, when he’s on the pitch, is probably playing the game for himself and struggles to realise and listen to those around him.”
It was Chelsea’s sixth red card in nine games, including Maresca’s own dismissal for celebrating a last-minute winner against Liverpool before the international break.
The Italian was asked to clarify whether he had wider concerns about indiscipline, with Chelsea also having received the highest number of yellow cards in the Premier League over the past three seasons.
He continued, “I completely understand when there are red cards like against Brighton [Trevoh Chalobah red] or Manchester United [Robert Sanchez red], that’s difficult, but the red cards against Nottingham Forest and today, both we can and have to avoid.
“It’s embarrassing when it’s a red card like today because it’s two yellow cards in five or 10 minutes. Both, I think, we can avoid. So it’s not good.”