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Enzo Maresca has spoken publicly for the first time since being shown a red card deep into Chelsea's dramatic 2-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday evening.
The Blues head coach was shown a second yellow card for his celebrations after Estevao Willian netted a 95th-minute winner. Maresca sprinted down the touchline towards the Matthew Harding Stand to join in with his players and their celebrations, having already been booked earlier in the match for dissent towards the officials.
As per FA rules, Maresca was not allowed to conduct his usual post-match media duties, meaning his assistant Willy Caballero took on the responsibilities instead. Caballero said: "He [Maresca] is okay, he is okay. He was so happy after the game.
"Unfortunately he cannot be here because of the card, but he was so happy and wanted me to do the press conference, but also he wanted me to praise the players because of the effort that they've done today. We believe that we deserve the victory after the chances that we created and how we played.
"Thanks to football and thanks for the effort of the players, we scored in the last second and we got the three points today."
Less than 48 hours after the dramatic scenes at Stamford Bridge, Maresca has taken to his Instagram page to reflect on the victory. "Winning at the last moment was a beautiful joy for all of us," Maresca wrote.
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"It was a shame not to be present at the final whistle to celebrate with our wonderful fans. Now recovery, focus and energy in what we can do better."
Maresca will be forced to watch from the stands on October 18 as Chelsea travel to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest. That comes in just less than two weeks' time with the second international break of the season now upon us.
A lot of Chelsea's players will jet off around the world to represent their countries, but there are also a large chunk who have not been selected by their nations. The likes of Robert Sanchez, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Jorrel Hato, Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Buonanotte and Joao Pedro will all get extra time at the club's training base in Cobham over the next fortnight.
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