Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has acknowledged that the absence of a natural striker made it challenging for his team in their 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Friday night.
With Nicolas Jackson sidelined due to a hamstring injury that could keep him out for up to eight weeks, Maresca opted to play Christopher Nkunku as the central forward. However, Chelsea struggled in attack, failing to register a single shot on target throughout the match and suffering consecutive losses at the Amex Stadium.
“It’s tough when you don’t have a natural number nine,” Maresca admitted. “You have to explore other options, but in the final third, we found it difficult to execute things that we had been doing well just weeks ago. This is the most challenging period since I took over, but we must push on and finish the season as strongly as possible.”
Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for Brighton in the first half with a clinical finish, while Yakunba Minteh netted twice either side of the break to secure a commanding victory for the Seagulls.
