Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca gives brutally honest response to Premier League sack drama

Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Nottingham Forest just minutes after his side were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has expressed his sympathy for Ange Postecoglou, who was dismissed just minutes following Nottingham Forest's 3-0 loss to Chelsea at the City Ground.

Postecoglou was relieved of his position after fewer than six weeks in the role. He had managed to avoid defeat in none of his eight matches with the club.

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis departed his seat during the interval whilst Forest trailed 2-0, with Postecoglou's dismissal being announced 19 minutes following the final whistle.

A promising opening 45 minutes for Forest was swiftly overshadowed within six minutes of the restart when Josh Acheampong nodded home his maiden senior strike before Pedro Neto curled a set-piece past Matz Sels.

The away side compounded Postecoglou's misery when Reece James fired home from a set-piece, inflicting a fourth consecutive loss across all competitions on Forest and sealing the 60-year-old's brief tenure as Forest boss.

Maresca offered his condolences to Postecoglou during his post-match media briefing. He said: "I didn't speak with Ange. I didn't see him but just said I feel very sorry for him.

"But we said many times this is a business where if you don't win games, the consequence for all of us is exactly the same. So, sorry for him."

Malo Gusto received his marching orders following a challenge on Neco Williams, with referee Chris Kavanagh showing him a second yellow card, marking Chelsea's fourth dismissal of the campaign.

Nevertheless, Maresca remains unconcerned about his side's disciplinary record. He said: "We can do better in terms of the red card, that is a mistake at 3-0 already on one yellow card. We can avoid that.

"In the same time I must say the desire to not concede a goal is important also. The second yellow card from Malo of course he can avoid that but the desire showed they were playing for a clean sheet and don't want to concede.

"It's something we can do better but I'm not concerned. I know there will be some of you saying 'why is he not concerned?' But I'm not concerned. We can avoid that for sure but for me the desire of the players is important."

Maresca was forced to watch from the stands after receiving a one-match touchline suspension following his dismissal against Liverpool, where he celebrated his team's winner by sprinting down the sideline.

He admitted he felt uncomfortable being away from the technical area but commended his players' second-half response.

He said: "Very bad feeling to be there. I prefer to be in the dugout to be honest. My message at half time was off the ball we are good, on the ball not good enough. We can avoid sloppy mistakes. We looked sloppy on the build up which was not good enough."