Enzo Maresca declared himself “really happy” after his Chelsea side ground out a 2-0 win at Burnley.
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez scored in each half to move the West Londoners up to second in the Premier League table, for a few hours at least, and condemn the Clarets to a third successive defeat.
It was not a vintage performance from Chelsea but Maresca was delighted they came through unscathed immediately after the international break.
“I really like this kind of win, because it’s tough,” he said. “It’s tough after the international break, 12:30, Burnley away, it’s always a tough game. But the way we competed… I am very happy.
“To come here and not concede is very difficult. It’s normal to concede something. But overall they only had one real chance. During the game they didn’t have any big chances and during the game we had loads of chances.”
Maresca hails Andrey Santos
Maresca was particularly impressed with Andrey Santos’ display in midfield, the Brazilian stepping in for Moises Caicedo, who was rested after playing back to back games for Ecuador.
He added: ”Be ready. Andrey [Santos] is doing very good. Today is a tough game, he is not playing much. It is not easy when you don’t play a lot.”
Next up for Chelsea is Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
“It was very important to keep the momentum from before the international break,” said Maresca. Now we’ll recover our energy and move on to Tuesday.”
