Nigeria, Feb. 15 -- Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca attributed his side's 3-0 Premier League defeat on Friday night to the absence of nine injured players during his post-match interview with the Chelsea media team.

The Blues were beaten by Brighton at the Amex Stadium, with Gambian Yankuba Minteh scoring twice and Kaoru Mitoma adding a first-half goal. Despite dominating possession with 70% and completing 717 passes, Chelsea failed to register a single shot on target in the entire 90 minutes.

Assessing the game, Maresca admitted that the absence of nine key players contributed to the loss:

"There are many reasons why. The injuries to our nines are part of that, but we have 13 games to go, and we need to finish in the best way."

He also ...