Enzo Maresca tore into Liam Delap after Chelsea’s dramatic 4-3 Carabao Cup win over Wolves, branding the striker’s red card “very stupid” and warning his young squad to “grow up.”
Chelsea raced into a 3-0 half-time lead through Andrey Santos, Tyrique George, Estêvão, and Jamie Gittens, but nearly threw it away after Wolves mounted a spirited second-half comeback. David Møller Wolfe scored twice after Tolu Arokodare pulled one back, leaving Maresca furious at his team’s lapse in discipline.
Delap, returning from injury, was sent off just 17 minutes after coming on for two rash challenges. “It’s embarrassing — two yellows in seven minutes,” Maresca said. “After the first, I told him four or five times to keep calm. But he struggles to listen once he’s on the pitch.”
Maresca’s own dismissal against Liverpool means Chelsea have now had six red cards in their last nine games. Despite advancing to the quarter-finals against Cardiff, he admitted the team “panicked” once Wolves made it 3-1, saying: “It’s part of the journey — we need to grow up.”
Wolves boss Vítor Pereira praised his side’s fightback, calling his players “one of the best groups of my career,” despite the loss keeping them winless at the bottom of the Premier League.
