Enzo Maresca has last laugh as controversial Chelsea call pays off in Everton win

Enzo Maresca has silenced his critics on more than one occasion since taking the reins at Stamford Bridge

Ever since Enzo Maresca replaced Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout, he's been heavily scrutinised for inverting his full-backs. But the Chelsea boss had the last laugh once again when Malo Gusto fired the Blues to victory against Everton on Saturday afternoon.

The 22-year-old defender, who has grown to become an embodiment of Maresca's philosophy, threaded the eye of a needle to break the deadlock at Stamford Bridge. Cole Palmer latched onto Gusto's delicately weighted pass before beating Jordan Pickford at his near post.

Had the France international not stepped in-field to create a numerical advantage and overload the middle of the park, he would not have been in a position to breach the Toffees' backline. By inverting Gusto, who acted as an extra pivot while in possession, Maresca opened up an area of the pitch that Everton could not defend.

It helped, of course, that Cole Palmer dragged Idrissa Gueye out of position earlier in the sequence. Then, shortly before the break, the Frenchman finished off a fast break, guiding the ball past Pickford at his near post.

Pedro Neto spearheaded the counter-attack, beating Vitalii Mykolenko with an excellent piece of skill. He then picked out Gusto on the edge of the six-yard box, and the Blues doubled their lead.

It wasn't the first time, nor will it be the last time, that a Chelsea full-back will be inverted by Maresca – and rightly so. While Gusto isn't a midfielder on paper, he fits the profile for the role: capable of defending transitions, technically comfortable, as well as tactically versatile and intelligent.

Gusto is far from the finished product, with the best still yet to come. But, he's developed well under Maresca, becoming everything that the Italian wants from a full-back. Speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon, the Chelsea boss reflected on the defender's performance.

"Yeah, but again, it's the effort from the players," said Maresca. "We said many times that Reece [James] and Malo, they are both full-backs, and today they were both midfielders.

"So the effort, the open mind, the way they want to learn has been fantastic and this is the reason why I praise the players because with so many problems, they are doing very well after a complicated week."

Raising eyebrows, Maresca added: "Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst 48 hours since I joined the club because many people didn't support us.

"So I'm very happy for Malo in that moment that the effort from Malo and from the rest shows that they are all there and they want to help this club."

On if he's found his 'main' back-four, Maresca said: "But this back four was today, was Bournemouth, was Barcelona, was Arsenal. They are always there, but now if we play Tuesday and Wednesday, for them it's complicated to play again.

"Wes [Fofana] cannot play every three days in this moment. So that's why also we try to change the central defender. The other day, it was Benoit [Badiashile] next to Trev [Chalobah].

"So we try to find a solution for the ones that they cannot play every three days."