Chelsea suffered a 2-1 defeat against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
Alejandro Garnacho scored the opening goal of the game for Chelsea, bursting down to the left wing before firing the ball past Robin Roefs in the fourth minute. Sunderland, though, levelled the game through Wilson Isidor as he struck after a long-throw in the 22nd minute.
The second-half saw chances go both ways, but Sunderland managed to continue their impressive season by holding Chelsea off. And then they won it in the 93rd minute, with Chemsdine Talbi meeting a Brian Brobbey lay-off to give the visitors the three points.
The Athletic's Cerys Jones was at Stamford Bridge to take in Saturday's game.
The buildup to Sunderland's winning goal felt symptomatic of how the game had unfolded. Brian Brobbey was allowed to hold up the ball in Chelsea's box for a seemingly endless stretch unchallenged, and Chelsea still seemed caught unawares when Chemsdine Talbi charged in to finish. It was a textbook counter-attack, and a threat they should have been switched on to.
It was a punishment for how they had allowed the game to drift. The sense of frustration around Stamford Bridge was palpable even before that late sucker-punch: Chelsea started perfectly, conceded a disappointing goal from a set piece, and should have easily recovered to win. They dominated the ball, defended generally well, and were wasteful in front of goal. Even Estevao, who is already the sweetheart of Stamford Bridge, could not light a fire under their stuttering attack.
This has been an overwhelmingly positive period for Maresca's side. They went into the international break on the back of a surprise win over title holders Liverpool, returned and shook off some first-half rust to see off Nottingham Forest (and Ange Postecoglou) 3-0 at the City Ground, and a heavily rotated side romped to victory against Ajax in mid-week. Estevao is starting to make good on his prodigy billing -- and all of this has even been in the absence of Cole Palmer.
This loss, in the context of that recent form, is not an absolute disaster - but serves as a reminder of how they cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal if they are to comfortably secure a Champions League place, or even push for the title
Injuries have presented an opportunity for newer names to establish themselves in central defence this season, and Josh Acheampong has stepped up. The 19-year-old was handed a fourth Premier League start of the season after scoring his first senior goal against Nottingham Forest last weekend and showed his maturity. He was partly at fault for Sunderland's equaliser, inadvertently playing Wilson Isidor onside after Chelsea failed to clear their lines from a corner, but recovered admirably.
The teenager was tasked with dealing with right-winger Bertrand Traore when left-back Marc Cucurella was in a more advanced role and stood up well to the 30-year-old in loose-ball duels. At one point, he also did well to shield the ball from Traore and manage to turn and run forward rather than go down under pressure, sparking an attack that drew some excitement from a frustrated home crowd.
In the second half, he put in an excellent tackle to stop Isidor running through on goal.
Acheampong will regret his positioning for the equaliser, but Maresca will be heartened by how he continues to cope with the intensity of the Premier League. After Acheampong was taken off by Maresca, Chelsea conceded late to lose the game.
Alejandro Garnacho took the opportunity to make multiple points when he scored his first Chelsea goal after four minutes against Sunderland.
This was the 21-year-old's third Premier League start since he joined from Manchester United in August. His departure from Old Trafford was acrimonious: The Athletic revealed in May that Ruben Amorim had told the forward to find a new club after their defeat in the Europa League final, and his subsequent social media activity, including a post in an Aston Villa shirt with Marcus Rashford's name on the back, meant he left Old Trafford on a sour note.
Since that move, he had yet to show his best at Chelsea. He had no chance to make his point on Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford in September, where he was an unused substitute. Despite showing more promise against Benfica and Liverpool, Garnacho had not showcased the raw attacking threat he was signed for.
His opener against Sunderland, pulling away from Nordi Mukiele to drill a low shot under Robin Roefs, was a statement in itself. The celebration was another: he perched on the advertising hoardings in front of the travelling Sunderland fans, recreating his celebration with Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo at Old Trafford that had become a symbol of the young talent at the club. Hojlund and Garnacho are both playing elsewhere (Hojlund is on loan at Napoli) while Mainoo is struggling for minutes.
After hopping off his hoarding, Garnacho proceeded to pull at his Chelsea shirt and point to the ground in an apparent gesture of his loyalty -- unusual for such a new player. The intention seemed to be to stave off any concerns about how the Argentinian would handle sharing minutes: he has started four games in all competitions for Chelsea, come on as a substitute in two, and been an unused substitute in three, including against Ajax on Wednesday night.
The Athletic reported this week that Chelsea are intent on rotating players carefully to manage their load and optimise performance in a busy schedule. Through that lens, the spread of Garnacho's minutes is not surprising -- and it was no surprise to see him leave the pitch for Estevao in the 58th minute.