"To be honest, I don’t see a big difference between us and them" - Enzo Maresca on Arsenal after Chelsea's loss in PL clash

Enzo Maresca has spoken about Arsenal, following Chelsea's 1-0 loss to the Gunners in North London today (March 16). He has insisted that the Blues are not far behind the Gunners, despite their Emirates Stadium setback.

Mikel Merino scored the only goal of the game in the first half, heading in from a Martin Odegaard corner. The Blues' aspirations for a Champions League place took a hit, but they remain in top four.

Speaking after the game, Maresca downplayed any rift in quality between the London rivals (via Hayters):

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"What I can say between the first game against Arsenal and today’s game, to be honest, I don’t see a big difference between us and them. This means we are, for me, since I arrived, I have the feeling we are on the right path and we are very close."

"We need just that step forward to compete in these kind of games. That step comes finishing in the top four, top five, Champions League spot."

He continued:

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“First of all we are going to try and win games away. At the moment, we are winning games at home and we are going to try and do the same away."

"At the beginning of the season, we were winning games away and struggled at home. Now it’s the other side. We are there, for sure, we need to improve away but overall I think we are good.”

Chelsea now have 49 points from 29 games but will have to defend their berth with Manchester City, Newcastle United, and Brighton & Hove Albion breathing down their necks.

Arsenal boss speaks after win over Chelsea

Desperate to end a three-game winless streak, the Gunners clinched an all-important 1-0 win over Chelsea. Speaking after the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted he was pleased (via club website):

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"Yes, very happy obviously with the result, with big parts of that performance. I love the attitude of the team from the beginning, the way we approached it, how aggressive we were with our goal..."

He further stated:

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"Yes, we are capable of competing consistently with really high standards against any kind of opposition and if we continue to do those things we will get rewarded."

Arsenal were missing some of their key stars in Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Bukayo Saka, but were able to control Chelsea with relative ease in a cool performance. The match leaves them second and in the hunt for the Premier League title, though 12 points behind Liverpool.

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