In Chelsea’s 3-1 loss against Leeds United, manager Enzo Maresca has provided an explanation for his decision to substitute Estevao Willian at halftime. The Italian claimed that he made the choice because he was afraid the Brazilian would be deported. Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka struck twice as the hosts went into the half two goals up. Pedro Neto pulled one back for the Blues after the half, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin pounced on a defensive blunder to seal victory. Chelsea now trails table leaders Arsenal by nine points as a result of the outcome.Estevao was issued a yellow card at the end of the first-half for a challenge on Gabriel Gudmundsson, tripping the Sweden international. Maresca stated that he felt forced to remove the winger. In his press conference following the game, Maresca stated, “I think the feeling with Estevao was a little bit, “hello to Premier League, welcome to Leeds.” “It must have had a significant impact on him. The reason why we changed him is because he had already a yellow card. “Sometimes when you are 18, you struggle to manage emotion, so it was better to change him and to avoid any red card.”
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