Brighton mock Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after Fabian Hurzeler bust-up
Brighton have seemingly poked fun at Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on social media after his recent comments regarding Fabian Hurzeler.
Hurzeler’s side were 3-0 victors at the Amex on Friday, their second consecutive win over the West London club having knocked them out of the FA Cup in their previous meeting.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the game, Maresca appeared to dodge the question when asking whether he regarded his counterpart as a “top manager”.
Maresca said: “I prefer not to say anything about their manager.
“It’s not that I’m not impressed. First of all, I think the previous Brighton manager is a top manager, not because he’s a friend of mine. But I think he’s a top manager. And that’s it.
“Do we have a problem? No, no problem at all.”
Chelsea fans were left furious with the result, with many taking to social media to suggest the club sack the Italian immediately.
Brighton demolish Chelsea twice in a week as pressure builds on Enzo Maresca
Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for Brighton, his second goal against Chelsea in their two meetings, after an almost impossible touch before curling past Filip Jorgensen in the Chelsea goal.
Fellow winger Yankuba Minteh then bagged a brace, securing all three points for Fabian Hurzeler’s side, taking them up to eighth, six points off their opposition in fourth.
Brighton took to X, formally known as Twitter, to aim a sly dig at Maresca after the comprehensive win over his side, saying: “Fabian Hurzeler. Top manager.”
Maresca’s side will likely fall out of the Champions League qualification spots thanks to the defeat to Brighton, with Newcastle facing Man City on Saturday (February 15).
Brighton will take on bottom-placed Southampton in their next league game on Saturday (February 22) as they seek to gain further ground on the European spots.