Celtic Stomps Over Chelsea’s Abysmal Defense To Thrash Them 4-1

While it's normal to expect a few hiccups at the beginning of a new manager's tenure, there will definitely be plenty of worries for Enzo Maresca's Blues on their transatlantic debut. As the Maresca era progresses so far, it's becoming increasingly unclear why Chelsea chose to fire Mauricio Pochettino. After a fantastic conclusion to the previous season, fans will understandably be more skeptical following a 2-2 stalemate with Wrexham and now an absolutely horrific 4-1 loss to Celtic. With goals from Matt O'Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi, Luis Palma, and Michael Johnston, the Hoops completely destroyed the Blues' poor defensive effort. Christopher Nkunku's spot-kick late in the game gave the Blues a consolation goal. This crushing defeat has begged many questions regarding the defensive strategies of the Blues.

The Rundown Of The Match

The Scottish champions were just so much better than their Premier League rivals in the heat of the United States. After some slick movement and a great finish in the box by Matt O'Riley, who beat Robert Sanchez with many outstanding saves earlier, Celtic took the lead just eighteen minutes in. It was a well-deserved advantage.

Celtic should have taken a 2-0 lead before the break, but Sanchez brilliantly stopped Kyogo Furuhashi from close range. However, he performed flawlessly when he finished a cross into the box two minutes later, raising the possibility that the Blues might suffer some sort of humiliation.

Raheem Sterling, who was sent on as a substitute by Maresca at halftime, struck the bar in less than a minute. But Chelsea collapsed miserably, and Celtic promptly scored their third and fourth goals, again capitalizing on some very appalling defense, especially from Benoit Badiashile, in what turned into an absolute nightmare. Late in the game, Christopher Nkunku gave the Blues a late scare, but in the end, they were humiliated.

Maresca’s Thoughts On The Situation

The Chelsea team suffered a terrible 4-1 loss to Celtic in Indiana, and manager Enzo Maresca thinks there are "many things to improve" moving forward. Chelsea has already lost both of its games played in the United States; in midweek, they had rallied to draw with third-tier Wrexham. Maresca, though, seems unfazed as he prepares to play Manchester City and Club America the following week.

"As we said, the result is always important. For us, we need to analyze the game in general. I think on the ball, the team was 10 times better than in the game against Wrexham and that is important because we can see the amount of chances we created in the first half and second half.”

"And off the ball, for sure, we can improve things and you can see sometimes we are confused when we need to play short, a little bit longer. It's part of the process."