{"id":32,"date":"2026-03-29T16:28:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/?p=32"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:28:07","slug":"maresca-happy-chelsea-fans-serenade-cardiff-cup-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/maresca-happy-chelsea-fans-serenade-cardiff-cup-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Maresca \u2018Just Happy\u2019 as Chelsea Fans Serenade Him After Cup Win Over Cardiff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Enzo Maresca admitted he was simply \u201chappy\u201d after Chelsea supporters sang his name following the club\u2019s <strong>3\u20131 Carabao Cup quarterfinal victory<\/strong> away at Cardiff City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chelsea boss had faced heavy attention in recent days after describing the 48 hours before the Everton match as his \u201cworst\u201d period at Stamford Bridge, sparking speculation about frustration behind the scenes. But speaking after the win, Maresca focused on the achievement \u2014 and the connection with the fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.asfutbol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-3-1024x646.png\" alt=\"Maresca Chelsea fans serenade\" class=\"wp-image-31\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just happy. We\u2019re going to play another semifinal and I think it\u2019s what the fans deserve,\u201d he said after celebrating at full-time as supporters serenaded him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maresca also made it clear he has not held discussions with club executives about his recent comments, insisting his focus has been purely on preparing the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chelsea\u2019s substitutes turn the tie<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea needed second-half impact to settle the match, and it came from the bench. <strong>Alejandro Garnacho scored twice<\/strong>, while fellow substitute <strong>Pedro Neto<\/strong> also found the net as Chelsea pulled away late on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The manager praised the professionalism required in cup fixtures against lower-league opposition, describing them as dangerous if approached casually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are the kind of games I fall in love with the players even more, because it\u2019s easy to slip,\u201d Maresca explained, warning that shocks happen every season when big teams underestimate difficult ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Injury update ahead of Newcastle<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Maresca confirmed that Brazilian winger <strong>Est\u00eav\u00e3o<\/strong> will miss Chelsea\u2019s next match against <strong>Newcastle<\/strong> due to a minor muscle problem that kept him out of the Cardiff game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cardiff\u2019s late hope, then heartbreak<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Cardiff City briefly reignited the contest when <strong>David Turnbull<\/strong> equalised with a strong diving header with around 15 minutes remaining, giving the home crowd real belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Chelsea\u2019s quality and depth showed in the closing stages, and Cardiff boss <strong>Brian Barry-Murphy<\/strong> admitted the goal raised hopes before the visitors took control again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s probably just the hope that kills you when you score,\u201d he said, praising his team\u2019s performance and the supporters who stayed behind them even after Chelsea went 3\u20131 up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea now move into the <strong>Carabao Cup semifinals<\/strong>, with attention quickly turning to their upcoming league clash with Newcastle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Enzo Maresca admitted he was simply \u201chappy\u201d after Chelsea supporters sang his name following the club\u2019s 3\u20131 Carabao Cup quarterfinal victory away at Cardiff City.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}