Enzo Maresca says Chelsea deserved to beat Brentford despite Chelsea's poor performance at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues won 2-1 but in the last 10 minutes Brian Mbemo scored and Mark Cukurella was sent off.

Before the break, Chelsea pressed the defensive line and put the Bees under heavy pressure by heading the ball into the goal.

The Blues missed the scoring opportunities, especially Nicholas Jackson, who sat perfectly in the game.

A first-time cross from an open goal on target flew over the bar and into the stands.

However, the Senegalese international scored a corner goal in the 80th minute using Enzo Fernandez's shot.

Cucurella gave Brentford the ball and with a few minutes to go, Mbemo used the ball as Robert Sanchez took the ball out.

🔵📈 Enzo Maresca's Chelsea are in second place in the Premier League. ✅ pic.twitter.com/CDa0NV8Fwb

- EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 15, 2024

The Spaniard was then dismissed after the final whistle to dampen the proceedings a bit.

However, Maresca was positive in his post-match press conference.

“Apart from the last 10 minutes, we controlled the game. It's normal.

"We created chances. We could have scored more goals. We deserved to win the game," he said.

“It's all about the location. You have to be in the right place and if you are, you have a chance.

"We worked with Mark to get to this game and to be in the right position. We are very happy. He is not a big full-back so it is not normal. We have worked for this kind of solution during the week and we are lucky.

"After the Tottenham game I said he (Jackson) didn't score but he did the most important thing. The others were celebrating and he was the only one going to the ball. He worked hard off the ball.

"There are only two teams that have scored less than us. We don't do bad things defensively. We want to finish with a clean sheet but there is another team that will try to score.

"It's not about how many games we win," he commented on the championship run. It is to be realistic. There are things we need to do better. That's why I said we're not ready for me.