Maresca defends style after Chelsea draw with Wrexham

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said his side “are going to concede goals this season playing out from the back” after two defensive errors in a 2-2 draw with Wrexham in his first game in charge.

Midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu scored an 82nd-minute equaliser in Santa Clara, California, cancelling out two second-half strikes by the League One side.

A sharp finish in the penalty box from Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring in the 35th minute of Chelsea’s opening friendly on their pre-season tour of the United States.

But Wrexham took a surprise lead after both teams made wholesale changes at half-time with Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott scoring following mistakes.

Wrexham impressed – adding to their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday in a half-empty Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.

Asked about conceding goals through his style of play, Maresca said: “Hopefully, not too many. It is one of the risks that you have trying to build from behind.”

And the 44-year-old for Leicester boss said he would “absolutely” continue his style, adding: “I have no doubt. I think you are going to concede in different ways, so you need to decide in which way you need to concede a goal.

“Sometimes teams that try to build from the back concede goals but I think you are going to score more than you concede.”

The match started in lively fashion with Levi Colwill and James McClean escaping red cards following an early bust up.

Reece James hit a post with a curled free-kick and produced a series of dangerous corners in the first half as Chelsea led 1-0 at the break.

But in the second half, Ugochukwu failed to cut out Seb Revan’s cross, which was turned in at the far post by Bolton.

An error by Josh Acheampong saw Marriott hit an impressive low drive to give Wrexham a shock lead. Marriott then saw another effort well saved by Chelsea’s second-half goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom.

Chelsea’s equaliser came from a slick move involving substitutes Angelo Gabriel, Armando Broja and Ugochukwu, who made up for his earlier mistake by sliding in a good left foot finish to level the match.