DStv Channel 403 Sunday, 08 December 2024

Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report

CHELSEA - Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca revealed co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were "all happy" after they celebrated Saturday's 3-0 win at West Ham despite reports of a power struggle between the pair.

Boehly and Eghbali are said to have fallen out over a number of issues since their Stamford Bridge takeover in 2022, with reports claiming each wants to buy the other's stake in the Premier League club.

It has been a turbulent time for Chelsea under Boehly and Eghbali, who have parted company with a host of managers while spending over £1 billion ($1.33 billion) on new signings in an unsuccessful attempt to revive the Blues' fortunes.

Regardless of their alleged rift, the pair were at the London Stadium to see Nicolas Jackson's first-half double and a strike from Cole Palmer to give Chelsea their third league win under new boss Maresca.

The Italian said Boehly and Eghbali visited the dressing room after the final whistle to congratulate the players, who have scored 10 goals in their three away league victories this term.

"Not only today, it's always good when we win games for the owners, especially because they were both here," Maresca said. 

"We can give them some good moments. They were in the changing room, they were all happy."

Chelsea finished sixth and 12th in the last two seasons and haven't won the Premier League since 2017.

While Chelsea have shown signs of improvement in the early days of Maresca's reign, the former Leicester boss warned against being lulled into thinking their problems have all been solved.

"I think we're on the right path," he said. "We're in the right direction, but it's a long journey.

"We won today and we're in a good moment, it looks like everything is fine. But not everything is fine. We could attack better, defend better.

"For me, the main target in this moment is to see how we progress as a team and I think we are improving many things, even if today we could manage the game much better."

 

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